The Superior Hulk: Here be Monsters
by Dalek Prime
Summary: Volume 1 of The Superior Hulk. Bruce Banner is dead and the only Hulk around is Amadeus Cho. but in the town of Gravity Falls, Mason 'Dipper' Pines protects the town from monsters and super-villains as an all-new, all-different Hulk! How did a thirteen year old get this power? and can he control his inner monster? set in the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe.
1. New Hulk in Town

**A/N: I don't own Gravity Falls or Marvel Comics. Also this set after the third issue of Civil War Two, where Bruce Banner was killed by Hawkeye.**

* * *

Chapter One: A New Hulk in Town

Gravity Falls was no stranger to the weird and the frightening, heck they had survived and even canceled the apocalypse at the hands of a deranged triangle, but even with the threat of Bill Cipher gone, their where still things that went bump in the night. It wasn't just the creatures in the woods that the people of Gravity Falls, but also the outside world. Normally, the tiny town was mostly off the radar to the rest of the world around them, but recent events were starting to change that. The townspeople had managed to avoid the super-hero Civil War, the Skrull Invasion, the dark reign of Norman Osborn, the conflict between the Avengers and the X-Men and the outbreak of the Inhumans.

But things were quickly changing once more; another war between the superheroes was quickly rising and this time the whole world was about to be affected by what was happening. Gravity Falls wasn't going to be spared from the effects of this war this time around, for it was starting to drive super powered villains away from the big cities and further into westward, or better put, northwest.

Case in point was Carl 'Crusher' Creel, a former boxer and petty thug turned super-villain via a magic potion given to him by the Norse God of Evil, Loki. From then on, Creel became the villain known as The Absorbing Man, and as the name implies, Creel gained the ability to absorb the elemental properties of anything he touched. With this remarkable ability, Creel had gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Thor, Spider-Man, the Avengers and most notably, the Hulk. But with Bruce Banner slain at the hands of the heroic archer known as Hawkeye, the Gamma powered monster was no more.

While the heroes were once again at war among each other, Creel and his super-strong lover, Titania, headed away from the coming battles and decided to head west to make claim for themselves, however, rather then risk going to California were more and more heroes were starting to make home in, Creel got the idea to instead to head a bit further northward since there hardly any activity regarding heroes in majority of the other states.

And so, like a super-powered Bonnie and Clyde as they were known as, they began to pillage and plunder every small town they passed through without a single man or woman in tights to stand in their way. The villainous duo continued their road trip of terror onward into the little town of Gravity Falls where they laid siege to it. As per usual with their blitzkriegs, the frightened townsfolk attempted to flee from the two titans, but soon enough, they were rounded up and brought them together in the town's square.

"Hiya folks!" the Absorbing Man began as he stood atop a car "the Mrs.'s an' me are tourists, an' we were hoping you give us some good ol' small town hospitality and hand over your money all nice like. But if you try anything funny…"

To get his point across, the villain bent down and touched the hood of the car. The moment his hand made contact with the metal, his entire body became a like living metal statue. He then raised his signature wrecking ball and shattered the vehicle under him in a single strike.

"I think you get the picture" Creel said with a smirk

Titania then took a hug burlap sack and began to walk by the people of Gravity Falls, who handed over their money, jewels and other valuables they had on them. The citizens were complainant, not even so much as looking at the villains in the eye. While they seemed afraid on the outside, inwardly however, it was really all an act to keep the duo from getting suspicious. For recently, Gravity Falls had gained a protector, one whose power could make the very mountains crumble. Thankfully, this defender was gentle toward the townsfolk and only unleashed its fury on those who would dare threaten Gravity Falls—just as Creel and his lover were doing.

"That's enough!" a young voice called out from among the crowd

Now Creel nor Titania had no patience for some moron getting brave on them, so whoever this punk was; they were going to make an example of this wannabe hero—and make it hurt!

"Who said that?!" Absorbing Man demanded "Which one of you backwater, goat-fucking, sons a bitches just signed his own death warrant?!"

From about twenty feet away from were the two villains were standing, a young boy bravely stepped out of line and into the street to face off with the pair. The boy seemed to be around thirteen and was dressed in a red shirt with a blue vest and a blue and white cap on. He had a short, brown hair was as skinny as a twig. Of course, neither super-villain was intimidated by the boy's command.

"Kid, either your really brave or really stupid!" Creel mocked as he and his lover continued to laugh

"If you both return what you've taken and leave right now, I swear that no one here will turn you over to the police" the boy furthered as he stood strong "But if you stay…then I won't be responsible for what happens"

The two powerhouses continued to laugh at the teens threats while the young hero remained silent. Normally, when a boy so young stood up to such beings like the two thugs; the townspeople would rush to pull him back in line, all the while begging the evildoers not to kill him or take their rage out on the rest of the town, but instead, they only murmured and muttered in approval and some in excitement at the sight of boy standing up to the villains, like they knew something the duo didn't.

"What's your name kid?" Creel asked

"Mason, Mason Pines" the teen answered causally "But my friends call me Dipper"

"Well you got balls Mason, I'll give you that" Absorbing Man before looking over to Titania "Make an example outta him, babe"

"Love to" she replied with a wicked grin

"Last warning, guys" the teen suggested "leave. Before I get angry"

"Angry? Ha! Oh that's rich kid!" Titania scoffed as she raised a fist "Who do you think you are? The Hulk?"

The giant woman brought her fist downward toward the boy's head, but just before she could strike his scalp, she was suddenly stopped by her would-be victim's hand, which felt like hitting Adamantium. Mason's iris suddenly changed from a light brown to a fiery red as he began to squeezed Titania's fist in a vice-grip, making her cry out in pain as she fell to her knees before the young hero. Creel was both confused and angered by the sight of the kid's sudden burst of power and using it on his lover. The boy had to be either a mutant or an Inhuman to that his beloved. All around the super-villains, the crowd of once scared townspeople began to raise up they're voices as they cheered for Mason's transformation.

"I don't think I'm the Hulk…" he growled before shoving her back "I _**AM**_ The Hulk!"

Mason fell to his knees as the transformation began, shocking the two criminals. His skin changed into a dark grey color as his muscles expanded at a rapid pace. His hat fell of his ever growing head, revealing his hair morphing from brown to black. As his once skinny frame gave way for a more muscular one, his clothing began to be ripped away by his ever expanding form—save for his shorts, though they looked like they were on the breaking point as well. The change, of course, was by no means painless, as was evident with his cries of agony as he continued to morph into a monster. Mason slammed his ever growing fist into the pavement, making the whole town shake from the force of the impact.

Absorbing Man and Titania were in total shock at the once puny boy's sudden transformation. Who was this kid? An imperfect clone of Banner? The Hulk's bastard son, maybe? In the end, it didn't really matter to either of the villains; all that did matter was this: could they kill it?

Once the change was complete, the boy known as Mason Pines was gone; now only the Hulk remained! The grey-skinned beast stood nearly nine feet tall with thick muscles that seemed to chamber over one another. His eyes blazed with fury within them as he locked his sights on those who threatened his home. Despite being completely unprepared for a fight, the villainous lovers still prepared themselves for the oncoming battle. While absorbing Man and Titania were shocked by this new Hulk, the townspeople let a collective cheer for the monster.

"Hulk not like metal man and big woman" the beast suddenly declared before pounding a fist on the ground "Hulk Smash!"

"Yeah Hulk, Smash 'em!" Thompson called out

"Get 'em! Get 'em!" the mayor cheered

Before either villain could react to what was going on, the Hulk let out a deafening roar as he bolted toward the duo as break-neck speed. With a mighty punch, he sent Creel flying upwards in the air and sailing backwards out of the town and toward the outlying forest. The Absorbing Man finally crashed into the dirt with for force of a small meteorite, making a small crater in the process. As Creel struggled to stand back up, he barley had enough time to register the large shadow that was now covering him. He looked up at the last second only to see a pair of huge grey feet large squarely on his chest, pinning him down in the crater he made.

Hulk roared again as he began to pummel the villain repeatedly in the face with both his massive fists. Crusher reached for his ball and chain and smacked the brute across the face, knocking him off his person. As the super-powered thug got back to his feet, the Hulk lunged at him once more, only to be stop by surprise punch from Titania, who had jumped after her lover. The Hulk stumbled back, but quickly corrected himself before taking hold a large bolder at his side and chucking it at her. The super-wrong woman punched the oncoming rock, shattering it into a pile of pebbles in a single blow. But just as she destroyed the huge rock, a huge, grey fist flew right into her face, knocking her backwards into several trees that she broke down during her surprise flight until finally coming to stop when she hit a large bolder.

Creel swung his ball and chain and attempted to crack the Hulk across the head again, only for the grey-skinned behemoth to dodge the weapon and punch him in the gut. While the Absorbing Man doubled over in pain, Hulk then put his hands together and hammered Creel in the back of the head, making the villain fall face first into the ground before being kicked into a nearby tree by his opponent. The grey-skinned monster was then heard the sound of a tree being torn from its roots. He turned around just in time to see Titania holding a whole tree in her hands and in mid-swing with it.

Luckily, Hulk caught the tree just before it could hit him and yank the rest of it toward him, pulling Titania along with it and right into his fist. Hulk then proceeded to take the tree and stamp the villainess under it, holding her down as he applied more pressure with his ever-growing strength. Suddenly, Creel slung his weapon around the Hulk's throat, forcing him release his grip of the tree and try desperately to free himself from the chain that was now choking the life out of him. Titania picked herself from the ground and began to repeatedly punch the Hulk in the chest and stomach, making him cry out in rage with every hit.

"Thought you could take us on, huh?" Titania laughed "if we can take the real Hulk, then we can take a wannabe like you!"

"Hulk…not…wannabe…" the beast rasped "Hulk...is… _ **Strong!**_ "

As the rage inside the Hulk grew stronger, steam began to slowly rise from his body. The grey giant's body then started to quickly heat up, causing the chain around his neck to weaken as his body grew hotter. Hulk reached up and tore the chain from his neck, breaking creel's weapon in the process. He then whirled around to punch Absorbing Man directly in the jaw. Creel stumbled backward from the force the blow and attempted a wild haymaker in defense, but the Hulk grabbed his fist and flung him over his shoulder and onto the villlain's girlfriend. The two rolled out of the way before being stomped under Hulk's massive foot.

Crusher got back to his feet alongside his lover and together they attempted to punch the brute together, but the Hulk blocked their united attack against with his hands. He engulfed their fists under his much larger palms as he closed them around they fists. The two villains did everything in their power to free themselves from the monster's grasp, but to no avail. Hulk then applied even more pressure to their hands to the point of breaking bone in their respective arms, making them scream in agony. With all of his strength, the Hulk flung the duo high into the air, sending them sailing through the air and far from Gravity Falls.

"Hulk told you…" the giant said with a small smirk in the corner of his lip

With that, he leapt away from the forest and back to the town.

* * *

The people of Gravity Falls could hear the sounds of battle from were they were and waited with bated breath for their protector's returned. As dipper Pines, he and his family saved the town and the world itself from Bill Cipher's Weirdmageddon, but now as that was given the powers of a Hulk, he now defended Gravity Falls from both threats within the town and outside evil that would do them harm. Admittedly, when they saw him first transform, they were apprehensive around him, fearing that he would be another Bruce Banner waiting to happen, but he assured that that unlike Banner's Hulk his changes were on his command and not triggered by anger and that as long as they treated his Hulk with kindness and respect, they would have nothing to fear from him.

And so they did and in return the Hulk protected them from whatever manner of monster of super-villain that dare to do them harm. The Hulk not only watched over the humans of Gravity Falls, but also the creatures that resided within its vast surrounding forests, for they had as much right to live here in peace as the humans did. But should either human or mystical being were to step out of line; they would answer to Dipper's monstrous form. Needless to say, both sides got the message. Here in Gravity Falls the Hulk was safe from the likes of S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers and as long as the Hulk stood strong, he would keep the town that he cared for safe from outside world.

Just then, the grey-skinned hero landed before the crowd, who began to cheer for their hero's triumphant return until they quickly realized that something was wrong. The Hulk's body was emitting a huge amount steam as his eyes blazed a hellish red. Dipper had told them that while he could easily change into the Hulk on command, changing back was much more difficult. He could only turn back into his normal self was either one of two different ways and if they didn't act fast and get him to calm down, it would be devastating for the whole town.

Then, from among the crowd, a redheaded teenager began to make her way through the masses and toward the behemoth. The people around her quickly stood aside as she walked forward, for only she could save them now. Her name was Wendy Corduroy, and she was both Mason's and the Hulk's lover.

"Well who wants a lamby, lamby, lamby?" she sang to the monster as she approached him "I do! I do!"

The Hulk locked his focus solely on the teenager as she continued to walk toward him without a hint of fear, knowing he would never harm her.

"So go up and greet your mammy, mammy, mammy" she continued to sing to him "Hi there, hi there"

The Hulk let out a low groan as the sound of her voice, letting his anger leave his body. Once she was close enough to the brute, Wendy reached out and took hold of both sides of his face, making sure that he would keep his gaze focused squarely on her and not the world around them. The steam that was coming off his body stopped as he began to slowly shrink down and let his other half take control once more.

"So march, march, march around the daises" she sang in more softer tone

Soon enough, the Hulk was gone and a very exhausted Dipper Pines took his place. He collapsed into his girlfriend's arms, who embraced him tightly in a loving embrace.

"And don't, don't, don't you forget about the baby…" she whispered to him

The people of Gravity Falls let out a great cheer for the Hulk who had once again saved them and for Wendy who prevented their defender from doing them harm. Despite feeling incredible weak and tired after changing back, Dipper reached up to kiss his lover, who kissed him back intensely.

"The town…out of danger?" he managed to say

"You saved us as always, sweetie" Wendy assured him before kissing his forehead

"Thank you…for bringing me back" Dipper breathed out

Wendy helped her lover back to his feet and allowed him to lean on her as they walked through the crowd, who thanked and praised him and Hulk for defending them yet again. One would think Mason 'Dipper' Pines had everything: a beautiful girl to love, good friends and a whole town who loved him and his monstrous alter-ego—all the things Banner never had.

Yes, he had everything. Everything, except, his sister.


	2. Never Sleep Again

Chapter Two: Never Sleep Again

Mason's eyes shot open only to close them again from the brightness of the light that shown down on his face. He attempted to move, but felt himself tied down. His eyes soon adjusted to the light, allowing him to see that he was strapped down to a metal operating table in some strange laboratory. He could see a small tray that had syringes and surgical tools sitting on a small desk next to him. The light that shown down on him made it difficult for Mason to see the rest of the room around him, but it was clear that he wasn't anywhere pleasant.

None of this made any sense, one moment he was eating dinner with his family and now he was here. He had no idea where his parents or Mabel were, but he was pretty sure that were more than likely to be here as well—where here is. He struggled with his restraints in the hopes he could somehow wiggled free of them, however, it proved to no avail. He had to find his family—not to mention get out of this room before whoever kidnapped him decided to use those surgical tools on him.

Just then, the young boy heard the sound of a door opening and losing before seeing a pair of figures step into the room. Mason couldn't quite see their faces, but from their figures, he could make out from the shadows that it was a man and a woman wearing green and yellow uniforms. But it wasn't just the uniforms that got his attention, it was the emblems on the uniforms that drew his attention on them and made him fully aware of how much danger he was truly in.

The emblem of Hydra.

* * *

Dipper shot up in his bed with a scream of terror. Once he remembered he was in the safety of his room within the Mystery Shack, he calmed his breathing as he wiped away the cold sweat from his eyes. He cursed under his breathe as he let his mind get the better of him once again. These dreams of the past didn't plague as often as they first had, but these days they had been more frequent, making sleep harder and harder for the boy to attain.

He looked over his bed to see that he drenched the sheets with his sweat during his nightmare. During his time in Hydra's clutches, Mason's body had undergone a massive shift in his anatomy. Through a mixture of puberty, mass exposure to gamma radiation and injections of genetically advanced growth hormones, his body had drastically changed in a short time frame.

He was no longer short and scrawny, but now a tall and well-built young man. True he was still shorter then his lover, whom he only reached up to her chest in height, but now he had some muscle on him, nothing as big as a body builder, but he still had a now fine-built body to him. Regardless of how much he physically changed, he still remained the same as he ever was—as same as ever one could be after being under the thumb of an international terrorist organization, that is.

The things Hydra had done to him during his time as their captive left there share of both mental and physical scars on him. He could still remember the agony he and Mabel went through as terrorist organization twisted their bodies into monsters. However, they didn't count on Mason's monster being less then obedient. After escaping Hydra's clutches, he ran back to the one place that he knew he would be safe: Gravity Falls.

At first he despised his inner beast, thinking it was the product of madmen to make a Hulk of their own, but rather than try to get rid of his monstrous alter-ego, he swore that use this power to protect those he still cared for and in time he learned to appreciate the Hulk and even treat him as a part of him in a way Banner never would with his inner monster.

Just then, he heard the sound of a soft oink, he looked to his side to see Waddles looking up at him with an almost expression of concern of his face—though it always difficult to determine the swine's true emotions from his usual blank look. Before he departed Piedmont, Dipper took his sister's pet with him back to Gravity Falls. He was always indifferent toward the pig, but it was all he had left to remind him of the good times he had with his twin sibling before Hydra destroyed it all.

"No, no, I'm fine boy" he assured Waddles

As he reached out to pat the pig's head, he suddenly noticed something under the pale light of the moon. He could see patches of grey slowly receding away to return to his normal skin color. Mason's eyes widen in horror at what he was witnessing before him. This was a potentially dangerous for not just him, but all of Gravity Falls. He needed help and he needed it now, fortunately, he knew just to go for matters such as this.

With that, he quickly got of bed and dressed himself before leaving to seek help from the one person who give the answers he needed. All the while Waddles could let out a soft, somber groan for his master's sake.

* * *

Dipper pounded furiously on the door's of the former Northwest mansion. In his time as the guardian of Gravity Falls, the teen had sought out the help to better understand his Hulk side, and who better then the two men who understood the very definition of the word weird: his great-uncles. When Dipper returned to Gravity Falls, he had managed to get in contact with the two men, who had the time where busy hunting an ape-like humanoid in Borneo. Once their grand-nephew explained his new 'condition', they made a B-line back to the small northwestern town in a heartbeat.

When they arrived however, Soos assumed his time as the owner of the Mystery Shack was over and attempted to give back the Shack—and the fez—back to the former Mr. Mystery. But Stan told him that that part of his life was over and that Soos was the once and future owner of the Shack. However, there still was the matter of finding a home for the brothers, so the current owner of the once great Northwest mansion, Fillford Mcguket, offered the two men a place to stay at his massive home—mostly because he wanted to talk to a real person and not someone he had dreamt up.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a very irate looking Stan waving around a loaded double-barrel shotgun. If Dipper had no control over his transformation, he might've hulked out and killed the old man in an instinctual moment of fight or flight.

"Alright, who's the wise-ass who—"Stan began before seeing his grand-nephew "Dipper? What the hell are you doing here this late?"

"I'm here to see Grunkle Ford and Mcguket" he explained, confused "didn't they tell you I was coming? I called ahead before getting here"

"Those two don't tell me jack" Stan replied in an annoyed voice as he put his gun away "well come in, since your apparently being expected"

Dipper stepped into the mansion and once again awed at the renovations Ford and Mcguket had put the building through. No longer did it look like a lavished home of a family of aristocrats, now it had all the appearance of something from a sci-fi film. Together, the three men had rebuilt the Northwest mansion into one giant laboratory where they could monitor all of the paranormal activity that occurred in the town as well as help both Dipper and the Hulk whenever they needed it.

Just as the boy entered the building, his other great-uncle and the mad prospector arrived in the main room to greet him. Ford had barely managed to dress himself before Mason's arrival while Mcguket wore his usual attire as always and looking as awake as ever—leading Didn't to think that the old madman hardly slept at all.

"We got your message, Mason" Ford said "You said this was an emergency, what's going on?"

"Y'a got the runs?" Mcguket asked "Beans oughta do the trick…I think"

Dipper paused for a moment in order to compose himself for what he what he was about tell them.

"I nearly hulked out in my sleep tonight" he told them

The trio of old men collectively felt a chill run up their spines. As much as both they and the rest of Gravity Falls treated the Hulk with respect, there was always that nagging fear that if the Hulk became to wild to control, it would mean the end of everyone. Could this be start of the Hulk wanting more freedom? And if so, what would happen if such thing happened. Would the Hulk be a gentle and kind soul, or would he be a terrible force of nature like Banner's Hulk?

"I know what you're thinking" Dipper furthered "And yes, I know this has never happened before, but I don't think the Hulk was doing it on purpose. If anything, I think it was me that was causing it"

"What makes you say that?" Ford inquired

"Because I was dreaming of my time…with Hydra" the young hero explained

That disturbed the three men even more. Mason had told the people of Gravity Falls that he was given his Hulk from Hydra's experimentations, and while he couldn't quite remember how long he was truly in their grasp due to parts of his memories being lost from the endless torture he suffered at their hands, he assured them that neither he nor the Hulk was not under their control. However, while most of the townspeople were convinced that he was no threat to them, some people such as the trio Dipper was currently sharing the room with, still had some concerns.

"I thought you said you could control the transformations" Stan pointed out

"Maybe you're doing it subconsciously" Mcguket theorized "Like wetting the bed. But instead peeing yourself, you could kill everyone!"

"That makes me feel so much better" Dipper sarcastically answered with a roll of his eyes

"You may be on to something there, Fillford" Ford commented "Maybe it is in all in your head, Dipper"

"What, like repressed memories or something?" Stan questioned

"No, more like Hydra programming" Mason corrected in a stern, yet offended tone as he narrowed his eyes at Ford "That was what were going to say, right Grunkle Ford?"

All eyes were on Ford now, but the inter-dimensional explorer stood by what he had just said.

"You were their captive for god knows how long Mason, we have no idea what they could done to your mind in that time" Ford elaborated

"I told you that they weren't able to control me" the boy argued fiercely with clenched fists

"You can't even remember half the things they did to you!" his great-uncle shot back "They could've put some sort of secret programming in your mind that's just now activating!"

"Hey, hey, knock it off! Both of you!" Stan cut in as he got in-between them "I'm not about to let what's left of this family tear itself apart! We need to figure this out as a team, and we can't do that if we're trying to kill each other! So chill out or so help me god I'll throttle the both of you!"

"Stan Pines being the voice of reason? Now that's the true sigh of the apocalypse!" Mcguket mentioned

"Shut it, y'a freak!" the con-artist snapped

Mason and Ford stared each other down for several more seconds before finally settling down. It surprised Stan how quickly his brother and grand-nephew turned on one another. They both very close—closer then perhaps Mason was to Stan, but now where they were acting like they were about to kill each other. Ford did have a right to be nervous about this situation; Dipper had nearly hulked out in his sleep without giving the mental command to change and knowing that he was given these powers by Hydra, it made them all on edge. On the other hand, Dipper had shown them how well he could control the Hulk, so they had to have some faith in the young hero.

"You maybe right, Grunkle Stan" Dipper said "It could be repressed memories"

"And if it isn't?" Ford mentioned, getting a glower from Mason

"Maybe we should take some brain scans" Mcguket chimed in before quickly adding when Dipper glared at him "Just to be safe"

"…fine" the teen finally relented "But you're not going to find anything"

"We'll see" Ford chided

Dipper ignored him and turned his attention back to Stan.

"In the meantime, could you give Gideon a call" he asked "If this is a mental thing like you suggested, then maybe he can help"

"Yeah I'll do that now" Stan answered before asking "Do you want me to call Wendy and tell her about this?"

"Let's wait until we have something definitive first" Dipper replied "I don't want to worry her about something that could be nothing"

"Kid, nearly turning into a monster in your sleep isn't what I'd call nothing" his great-uncle explained "If you've learned anything from this town; it's that secrets can do some real damage"

"Alright, but tell her that everything is under control" the teen gave in before muttering "For now, at least…"

Stan nodded in response before stepping aside in order to make the calls to both Wendy and Gideon while the rest of the group made their way into the lab. Dipper did have something else he wanted to tell them about the Hulk, but he felt that it only pull him and Ford further apart. For the past few weeks he felt something…different about the Hulk. Since they were one in the same, Mason could sense when the Hulk's emotions or when something was changing with the beast in him. At first he thought it was just thought it was just his paranoia, but after tonight, it may be an indicator for what he had suspected for awhile now.

That the Hulk was getting smarter.

Weather that was a good or bad thing was hard to tell at this point, but for right now he decided to keep that information to himself until he was certain that this wasn't Hydra's doing. He swore that he would treat his Hulk better than Banner ever cared for his inner monster; that he would take this monster that was meant to be used as a weapon for evil and make into a force for good. Even though Stan had said that secrets did more harm then good, but he knew that he said anything about this Ford would only distrust him further.

After all, if his past experiences had taught him anything; it was that family was one you really had watch out for.

* * *

 _ **Flashback…**_

Mason struggled against the restraints that kept him tied down as the two Hydra soldiers slowly made their way over to the tray of surgical tools, almost as if they were enjoying the fear in the boy's eyes. The teen could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the two servants of Hydra delicately picked up their selected tools and approached the table. Mason still couldn't see their faces due to the bright light in his eyes, but he almost had sense of familiarity with his captors. He had to get out of here; he had had to find his family and escape wherever the terrorists were keeping them—wherever that was.

It didn't make any sense to him, why him? Why his whole family? Hydra was known for thousands of horrific deeds from slave trading to creating a vampire army, but capturing a normal family like his totality unorthodox even by their standards. Could it be that they had discovered what had transpired with what happened with Bill Cipher and wanted answers? That was only reason he could possibly fathom at the moment.

"Why and am I here?!" Mason demanded, trying to put up a brave front as he did "and where is my family?!"

"You are here because you've been selected for something wondrous, Mason" the female agent calmly answered

That voice, it was all too familiar to Dipper, but he refused to believe it. It couldn't be possible—it shouldn't be possible!

"And as for your family, your sister is fine" the male agent continued "and as for your parents…"

The light was pushed out of Mason's eyes, allowing his fears to be unfortunately confirmed.

"Where here for you, son" his farther assured him as he and his mother stood over him in their Hydra uniforms


	3. Inhumanity

Chapter Three: Inhumanity

After being scanned several times over by Mcguket's machines, Dipper and Stan headed off to the only other person who could be of any help to the young hero while Ford and the prospector went over the results: Gideon Gleeful. Now had this been a year ago, the Pines family would have never considered going to the boy for any sort of aide, but after the war against Bill, the former enemy had become a great ally to them. Gone was there rivalry, and with it, Gideon's obsessive need to rule the town.

These days, the boy spent his days trying to atone for his past sins by helping the townspeople in anyway way he could. Recently, he had discovered that he retained a small semblance of his now shattered necklace's power, however, rather then try to and conquer Gravity Falls again, he instead wanted to use the remnants of his once great powers to help those in need. Despite his change, Dipper and the other members of the Mystery Shack where at first skeptic of his change of heart, but in time, the boy proved himself worthy of the Pines family's trust—to an extent.

Even with his diminished powers, Gideon still had gained the ability to telepathically reach into ones mind and draw fourth long buried memoirs, granted, he was no Charles Xavier by any means, but he was still quite gifted none the less. If it was in fact some repressed memory from Mason's days in Hydra's captivity, then the former villain would be the best chance of helping him before he could Hulk out in his sleep again.

Stan had called ahead to set up a meeting and while the young psychic was annoyed that his former rival had woke him up at three in the morning, once the con-artist had explained situation to him, Gideon cleared his schedule to make time for Mason. After calling the psychic, Stan then called Wendy and told of the situation. While she was told to stay at home and wait for further information, she refused to stand idly by and made it clear to her former boss that she would meet them at Gideon's home.

The sun was slowly rising over the horizon when Stan and Mason finally arrived and sure enough, Wendy was standing several feet away from the Gleeful home. Once she saw the two men approaching the house, she made her way toward them. Mason reached out with his arms and embraced his lover before kissing her deeply, to which she responded back with a deep kiss of her own. Stan only shook his head as he rolled his eyes at their antics, hiding a small smirk of pride from his grand-nephew as he did.

"I came as soon as Stan told me everything" she told him "are you feeling ok?"

"Obviously not" Stan muttered, making the two teens to shoot him a collective glare before looking at each other

"Stan's right though" Dipper explained "I'm hoping Gideon can help figure out why I nearly hulked out last night. Ford and Mcguket are doing the same as well back at they're lab"

"How are you holding up?" she questioned

"Aside from the fact I'm completely exhausted and dreading that this all some grand Hydra plot? Pretty good" Mason answered with a mix of candor and playful sarcasm in his voice

Wendy gave her boyfriend a smirk in response, but on the inside the redhead was terrified for both Mason and the Hulk. She knew it wasn't going to be easy relationship with Dipper after he revealed his new monstrous alter-ego, but she refused to abandon neither him nor the beast that dwelled within him not matter what. She wouldn't give up on him like Betty Ross did with Bruce Banner. She would stand by the boy she loved as well as the monster she also cared for.

"Ahem" a familiar voice interjected "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

The trio turned around to see Gideon Gleeful dressed in his regular blue suit standing in the doorway to his house.

"Good to see you, Gideon" Dipper greeted with a handshake "I'm sorry for just springing this on you"

"Think nothing of it, my friend" the psychic replied in his usual over theatrical tone before gesturing his hand toward the doorway "So, shall we then?"

* * *

Gideon led Dipper up to his room while Stan and Wendy waited downstairs in the living room. The shades in the room where shut and the only light within the bedroom came from scented candles. There were two large silky-lined mats with decretive colors on them as the sweet smell of lavender filled the room. Mason stifled a laugh in his throat at the mental joke he made of if Gideon was either trying to help him or seduce him.

"I heard that!" Gideon snorted

"How did you…" the young hero trailed off before remembering who he was talking to "Oh right. Telepath"

"Yeah" the psychic said in an icy tone before pointing over to one of the mats "Take a seat"

Dipper nodded in compliance before taking a seat on the mat. The former enemy of the boy then sat down cross-legged on the other mat. Mason followed his example by also crossing his legs and sitting Indian-style on his mat. Gideon's expression then became soft yet still stern as he closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths as he did.

"I should warn you Dipper, I'm about to reach deep into your mind and pull out memoirs that you subconscious wanted to keep locked away" he explained as he kept his eyes closed "You may not like what we find"

Apart of the teenager wanted to stop this whole thing right now and leave the room, but if he was to get to the bottom of this, then he had to bite the bullet and face his buried demons.

"I…I'm ready" Dipper forced himself to say

Gideon gave a tiny nod in understanding before taking in another breath. Dipper then closed his eyes and began to take in deep berths as well. The teen then began to feel pulling at his mind—no doubt Gideon started to reach into it in order to find the problem. Mason opened his thoughts to the other boy as his thoughts began to slip back to his long forgotten days with Hydra…

* * *

Dipper screamed in agony as he felt another needle rammed into his spine. It then began to inject another mixture of mysterious chemicals into his bones, making him feel like a wildfire had just set off inside of him. It had been this long for three days now—at least he thought it had been three days, one injection after the other before being cut open with minimal anesthesia and have his insides toyed with before being sowed back up again. He would then showed into a large, dark chamber were he would be exposed to massive amounts off gamma radiation at time before being pulled out and left strapped to a table for a short time as he writhed in pain and hunger so great that it kept him awake. And the very people doing this to him were the ones he called mother and father.

This had to be some crazy dream, a hallucination caused from being bit by some snake; at least then that could explain as to why he was being tortured by his own parents. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that people who raised, loved him and cared for him were now treating him like some lab experiment. He had begged and pleaded with his parents to stop all this, but they ignored his cries and continued on with their tests, acting as if he was stranger to them.

Day after day, Mason felt both his mind and body being ripped open and the stitched back together. This was beyond insane! His mother, the woman he would sing the lamby, lamby song to, was the person who was now pulling him apart and looking to see what made him tick while his farther would jab him with more needles. There was also another question that also plagued his thoughts: where was Mabel?

He had no idea if his twin sibling was either alive or dead or even in this facility at all. For all Mason knew, his sister was buried in some shallow grave out in the desert. The image of his sister's face was only thing that was keeping him somewhat sane, but now these days those images of memoirs were becoming more and more of the blur with each passing day.

"Mom…" he breathed out "Please…please stop…"

His mother gave him a small glance of indifference to him before going back to her work. His farther merely picked up another syringe and began to fill with more chemicals, acting as if he was going about just another regular day at the office.

"I hope you realize that we're doing this for your own good, Mason" his mother suddenly spoke up as she kept her eyes on her notes "Everything your farther and I are doing to you and your sister is to make you both better"

She spoke as if she was lecturing him after giving him a time-out, like all this was some form of punishment for him. But he did pick up on something in her words: she has mentioned Mabel.

"Where…where is Mabel" the boy weakly asked

"She's doing well under all the treatment" his mother answered, ignoring the question "But you're clearly the strong of the two of you. Madame Hydra is most pleased with your progress especially"

"Your going to make a fine solider, son" his farther chimed in

"Is that what you're making me?" their son questioned further "into some super-solider?"

"Not exactly" his mother informed

She then showed them a picture among her notes: an image of the Hulk.

"We're going to make you into that"

Suddenly, a loud scream of pain cut through the halls of the Hydra base. As the screaming continued, Mason heard the agony-filled voice of his twin sister.

"Dipper! Help me!

* * *

Mason's eyes shot open as he gasped for breath. The long-forgotten scream of his sister had snapped him back to reality. It filled his soul with a mixture of rage and sorrow within him. He reached up and touched his cheek to feel a line of tears rolling down them, showing that he had wept during his trance. The teenager then looked over to Gideon to see that he was looking back at him with a mix of horror and sadness on his face. The psychic had been crying as well and Dipper knew why. Gideon once had a strong attraction to Mabel and for him to see the horrors both she and her brother suffered through at the hands of their own parents shook him to his very core.

"My god…" he gasped in shock "Mason…I'm so sorry"

"Is…is that all you can dig up?" Dipper questioned, still shaken by the flood of forgotten memoirs

"That's all I can get for now" the former villain answered before adding "I'm starting to see why you nearly hulked out in your sleep"

"So am I" Mason sadly agreed "and you look again?"

"Like I said, that's the best I can do for now" the boy explained "If I tried again right now, the rush of memoirs could drive you insane"

Mason said nothing in response; instead he wordlessly got to his feet and made his way toward the door. Just before he could turn the knob, the young psychic spoke up.

"You know it's ok to miss her, Mason" he said before muttering "Lord knows I do"

"There's been something on my mind lately" Dipper said, forgoing what the boy had said "a few weeks before I came back here, a cloud of green mist rolled through here. Terrigen Mist"

Gideon's eyes widen at that question. The Terrigen Mist was a mutative gas that gave the Inhumans their unique powers, who had accidentally released it unto the earth from after the fall of their home on Attalian. The gas had transformed a selective few who were direct descendants of the Inhumans into of their kind. Much like the Mutants before them, these new Inhumans were met with fear and prejudice by the world at large. Many of these newly born inhumans wanted to stay hidden from those who would do them harm.

"No one in town was changed from the gas" he continued in a much colder tone as he glanced over his shoulder to look back at Gideon "But it's kinda funny, shortly after that mist rolled through, you claimed you had your powers back. It makes you think, doesn't it?"

A look of shame came over the boy's face as he looked away from the teen. He had been found out and there was no denying it. Just then, Dipper let out a haggard sigh before turning to face his former enemy.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just don't know how to cope with…" he couldn't finish that sentence "I didn't mean to threaten you like that. All of this has got me stressed out"

"I understand" Gideon answered "Just promise me that you'll keep my…condition a secret. If everyone found out I was an Inhuman, then all the trust I've had to build back up would be lost and I'd be treated like a monster all over again"

"I promise" Dipper agreed before adding "After all, us monsters gotta stick together, right?"

Gideon could only give his somewhat friend a genuine smile in response. The two then went back down stairs to tell Stan and Wendy what they had dug up.

* * *

She had finally made it. The source of the fowl scent she had been following for days now. She had been following the scent she had been following was that of a monster, cold and ruthless, that had left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. She first heard of the beast's wrath on the news when she was watching the news with Gabby, hearing the tale of how the monster and slaughtered a group of teens while they were out camping. At first, she didn't think that it was her job to hunt down this creature, but then she remembered her farther and his days of fighting this monster in the past, and more importantly: what would he do now if he was here?

So after leaving Gabby with enough money to get through the next few days, she donned her costume and set out to slay this monster. She wanted to bring the closet thing she had to a sister alon with her, but from the stories her farther had told her of the monster, she felt it better if she stayed behind on this one. The trail was long and drenched in blood, but it finally lead her to a large forest that surrounded a little town in Oregon. She knew that if she didn't intervene that the monster would kill them all. She needed to track down the creature, and she needed to find it now.

Suddenly, another scent of some unknown beast filled the air, and this one was close. Very close. With a deep growl, the girl spun around came face to face with a huge monster that lumbered out of the woods. It wasn't the monster she was searching for, but something just as strange. The new monster was a huge, muscular half-man half-bull hybrid with a large beard.

"Halt, female!" the man-bull ordered "No weak little girl shall enter the territory of the Manataurs!"

She didn't know what a Manataur was, and right now, she didn't care. The monster she was hunting was still here in this town and if she wanted to find it before it could kill again, she had to take this creature out hard and fast. Besides, she had just been called a weak little girl; there was no way she was going to let this jerk get away with that.

"You just signed your own death warrant, bub" she informed him before making a mental note to never say 'bub' again

"Hahahahaha! What are you gonna do about it?" the Manataur mocked "Throw a doll at me?"

With a deep snarl, the girl unsheathed two long, Adamantuim claws from each of her hands. With an animalistic rage within her, she leapt at the Manataur, ready to show him the fatal error of his words. For this girl, Laura Kinney, was no longer just X-Twenty Three, but now the new Wolverine!


	4. Hulk vs Wolverine

**A/N: I know few people have asked why X-23 is Wolverine in this story and I'd like to explain why that is. The reason being is that this story takes place in the current Marvel Universe where Logan has died and X-23 has taken up the mantle of Wolverine. That being said, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Four: Hulk vs. Wolverine

"So that's all Gideon could get out of you?" Wendy asked

Dipper took a seat on the couch instead of answering his girlfriend right away, even a half-hour after his session with Gideon and regrouping at the Mystery Shack; the teen was still shaken by what was pulled out of the darkest corners of his mind. He did tell his great-uncle and his lover what the secret Inhuman had dug up from his buried memoirs, but other then that, he stayed quiet. Neither of them wanted to push Mason further, knowing that what he saw had clearly upset him. Wendy sat down next to her boyfriend and took his hand into her one, letting him know that she was there for him. Dipper returned her gesture of kindness with a small smile, though the pain he was feeling was all too evident in his eyes.

"He told me that if he tried to dig any deeper, it would've driven me insane" he finally explained, trying his best to sound normal as possible "And I'm the last guy you wanna have go crazy"

Wendy reached out and hugged him tightly, to which he returned with a tug of his own. Everyday he thanked God for Wendy Corduroy. His girlfriend was like a rock that he could trust his life to no matter what. She kept both him and the Hulk grounded, as well as help keep the two sides in harmony. When he returned to Gravity Falls after escaping the hell Hydra put him through, the lumberjack's daughter was the first person he sought out. He told her everything and she believed ever word of it, knowing that Mason Pines was not the sort of person to make up such things—plus his surprise growth spurt and well-built body also helped affirm his story.

Admittedly, when Wendy first saw Mason transform into his monstrous persona, she was initially frightened of the Hulk, but she quickly understood that this was now mindless brute, but a poor soul that was still trying to grasp who or what it was. The redhead then set out to help her friend reconnect with his great-uncles along with Soos. Much like after the events of the Weirdmageddon, the two where once again very close friends, but soon enough, the two friends found themselves in a relationship, much to the pride of Stan and Manly Dan.

"Anything from Ford and Mcguket yet?" Dipper asked Stan

"Not yet, their still going through the results" the old man answered "not that we need it now, since I was right and all"

"Maybe, but I want to see what they found just to be sure" his grand-nephew said

"Does Ford still think this is all some great Hydra plot?" Wendy inquired

"Yeah, and he won't change his mind until he sees some evidence otherwise" Mason replied

"Are all the men in the Pines family that stubborn?" the ginger questioned sarcastically

"Meh, it comes with the territory" her former boss off-handily told her with a shrug "we're also really paranoid, but you already knew that"

Just then, Soos entered the room wearing his own tailor-made version of the Mr. Mystery suit. Even though the gift shop wouldn't be open for another two hours, the heavyset man loved wearing his suit, saying that it made him feel important. Ever since the former handyman had been named Stan's successor to the Shack, things at the gift shop had picked up. Under Soos's guidance, tourists & locals alike truly enjoyed their time at the gift shop for the strange. No more were they hassled or harassed for they're money, now it was a much friendlier atmosphere than it was before—much to the chagrin of the shop's previous owner.

"Uh dudes" he began in a concerned voice "You need to see this"

"What is it, Soos?" Dipper asked as he got back his feet

The husky man said nothing, instead he only gestured for the trio to follow him out back. Dipper, Wendy and Stan followed their friend out to the back of the Mystery Shack where they found what, or rather who, was the cause for Soos's concern. It was Pubitor, the Manataur that had once attempted to train Dipper in the ways of manliness. The bull-man was covered in fresh, deep wounds that still poured blood from them; so much so that the brutish creature could barley stand. The whole group was in a state of shock, the Manataurs were known as some of the strongest creatures in Gravity Falls, so to see one bleeding to death took Mason and the others aback greatly.

"Destructor…" Pubitor rasped weakly before falling to his knees

"Get him inside!" Mason ordered as he hurried over to the Manataur's side

Alongside the others, Mason managed to lift Pubitor up just enough to help in back to his feet and escort back into the Mystery Shack, where the second he was brought into the living room, the bull-man collapsed into ground with a force so great, it shook the whole building. Thankfully, Soos's grandmother could sleep through just about anything, but Melody on the other hand, wasn't as heavy a sleeper. She immediately shot out of her bed and bolted downstairs with only her nightgown on and found a half-ton humanoid bull-person lying half-dead in the living room. Before she could let out a scream however, her boyfriend quickly covered her mouth.

"It's ok Melody" he assured her "Pubitor's a friend…kinda"

With that, Soos released his hold over mouth. The young woman should've been use to these sorts of weird things happening in this town by now. After the fiasco with the killer computer A.I Giffany and near-end of the world, seeing a Minotaur in her new home shouldn't have surprised her. She gave her lover a nod to silently let him know that was she ok. She then went into the bathroom to gather up every towel she could find, knowing that there was no bandage in this building to cover up the words that were inflicted on their 'guest'. While Wendy, Stan and Soos tried to stop the bleeding, Dipper wanted to know who had attacked his monstrous friend.

"Pubitor, who…what did this to you?" he questioned

"A…A girl…" Pubitor answered "A girl with claws…"

Mason was once again surprised. There were hundreds of strange creatures that lived in the forest of Gravity Falls—some of which he had yet encounter. But this was vastly different, he had no idea what this clawed girl was, but if could she do this to a Manataur, then this girl was a force to be reckoned with.

"What did this girl look like?" Dipper questioned further

"I couldn't see her face, but she wore a strange yellow and blue costume" his friend replied

The word 'costume' was enough to tell Mason and the others that either another super-villain had found her way into their little town, or a superhero had finally found her here. In any case, everyone knew that having this girl roam around Gravity Falls was no good for anyone and already knew they had to get her to leave. However, they still had no idea as to the identity of this newcomer was.

"The only person who comes to close to matching that description is Wolverine" Wendy surmised before adding "But he's a guy"

"And dead. Don't forget dead, dude" Soos pointed out

This was true, the X-Man known as Wolverine was in fact dead just like Bruce Banner. Although the details of the mutant's demise were unclear, what was known was that the seemingly invulnerable hero died saving innocent people from the hands of a madman. Dipper could only shrug off what he considered a pointless death in his eyes. Where was Wolverine, or any hero for that matter, when he and Mabel were being experimented on by they're parents for Hydra's schemes? Off trying to kill each other or in this case getting themselves killed for what would amount to nothing—or at least until they got brought back to life through time-travel or by some stupid magic amulet.

"Why didn't you go back to the other Manataurs for help?" Stan inquired

"And tell them I got beat by a girl?" Pubitor replied "I'd never hear the end of it!"

Ah yes, the ever misogynist creed of the Manataurs. No wonder Pubitor limped all the way to the Mystery Shack instead going to his own people for aide, had he done that, he would've been considered unmanly and been made a laughing stock among his tribe. Mason glanced over to his girlfriend to see him scowling at the bull-man and stifled a chuckle in his throat. If Wendy didn't pity this beast she might've beaten the ever-loving piss out of him for saying such words.

"You must unleash the fury of the Grey One, Destructor" Pubitor practically begged "Avenge my honor!"

While Dipper didn't want this to become a punch-up between the Hulk and whoever had attacked Pubitor, he knew that people normally wearing spandex didn't usually listen to reason, and if this girl was trying to be like some Wolverine fan-girl, then she certainly wouldn't response positively to anything he had to say. Still, he had to least try to talk some sense into this costumed stranger and not punch her into the stratosphere while doing so.

"Soos, you and Melody stay here and patch up Pubitor" he began "Wendy, Grunkle Stan, let's see if we can find this girl and try to talk things out"

"And on the very strong chance that things don't work out?" his great-uncle commented

"Then at least I can say I tired to be civil" Mason answered as he started to remove his vest and shirt

* * *

Laura let out an irritated growl. The scent had gone cold and now she was just wandering around aimlessly in the forest. She had been tracking the monster's trail well into the afternoon before loosing the scent deep in the woods. It seemed the creature had gotten wise to being pursued and must have covered its scent with something else, or perhaps it had already fled the area and had moved on. Laura cursed herself for not being able to catch up with the beast sooner. If Logan was still here, then he would've already not only found the monster, but also would have killed it by now and be looking for a bar to have beer before going home.

But it was obvious that she wasn't by any means Logan, she was only a girl trying to fill-in for a legend she sometimes thought she could never fully live up to. And now she had committed a much worse sin: she had let the monster get away to kill again. She couldn't just pack up and leave now; she had come too far to just let this beast get away right when she had it. Laura then sucked it up and began to ask herself: what would Logan do?

" _Probably go to the nearest bar, get drunk, and wait until nightfall when the monster is most active_ " she to herself

Suddenly, the sound of rustling bushes caught the hero's attention. She whirled around to see a shirtless, barefoot, young man step out to reveal himself. Laura was so wrapped up with her thoughts that she had failed to pick up on the boy's scent sooner. Acting on instinct alone, she let a low growl as she popped her claws in defense. The stranger wasn't surprised by her threatening display; it was if he was expecting this kind of response from her.

"Whoa now, take it easy" the teen said calmly, putting his hands up as a way of showing he meant no harm

"Who are you?" Laura demanded "and why are you shirtless?"

"My name's Mason Pines" the young stranger began "and as for the whole shirtless thing, that's kind of a long story"

The boy then narrowed his eyes as he carefully studied her, as if he was trying to fathom as to why she was dressed up in yellow and blue spandex.

"So…are you some kind of Wolverine fan-girl or something?" the shirtless teen inquired, sounding more cautious than curious

"I _am_ Wolverine" the clone corrected harshly, showing her claws to him to get the point across

"Ok, ok!" Mason quickly accepted, trying not to anger then girl "Jeez, take it down a notch will you?

"Why are you here?" the new Wolverine asked, wanting to get to the point

"I'm here because you attacked a friend of mine" Mason answered in a sterner voice "and I want to know why you sliced him up"

"You must be mistaken, I haven't harmed anyone" the mutant defended, clearly confused

"Oh no? Then why does my buddy look like he's been in caught in a blender?" Mason retorted

The young man wasn't making sense; she hadn't attacked anyone since she arrived here. The only she had encountered was the brutish bull-man that she easily defeated, but Mason couldn't possibly be taking about that creature, could he?

"Are you friends with that…thing?" Laura asked

"His name is Pubitor" Mason corrected sharply as he crossed his arm "and he was just guarding his people's turf until you intruded on it"

"I was only defending myself" the clone informed him defensively

"Or you could've, you know, left" the teen chided

"So are you here to avenge your friend?" Laura questioned, tensing up as she did

"I want you to leave" Mason answered adamantly "I don't want you here and neither does anyone else in Gravity Falls. We're not the biggest fans of superheroes and we'd like to keep this place costume free. I don't know why you're here in the first place, and quite frankly I don't really care, but you either leave right this second or I make you leave. Your choice"

"I can't leave. Not yet" Wolverine said "Not until I kill the monster that's hiding here"

Mason was visibly taken aback by that statement, however the clone of Logan had sense that the boy may have more knowledge about this beast then he was letting on.

"I've been tracking this thing for miles; following its scent here" she continued "If I don't kill it here, then your entire town will die by its hands!"

The young man scowled at her, almost sending a chill up the hardened fighter's spine. At first Laura didn't consider Mason a threat, but now she wasn't so sure. Just then, she focused on the boy's scent and detected something very wrong with it. Again, she wasn't focusing on the him due to her mixed irritation with both his intrusion and herself for not finding the monster sooner, but now that she did, she could smell a stench coming off him that no human should have—unless of course they had radiation in their blood.

With lightening speed, the new Wolverine darted toward Mason and took him by the throat before slamming him up against a nearby tree. To show that she wasn't fooling around, she flashed her claws in his face, holding them mere inches form his eyes. But the teenager showed no sign of fear at her display of power, instead his face only hardened like stone as he glowered at the girl who had his neck in a vise-grip.

"You smell toxic!" she snarled "Why?!"

"Last chance, 'Wolverine'" Mason warned darkly "Leave right now, or else"

"I'll do no such thing" the clone gritted through her teeth

"Well, I asked nicely" the teen sighed, sounding like he had lost an argument "I just want you to know: whatever happens next is on you"

Suddenly, Laura was shoved backwards by single great shove from Mason's grip, knocking her several feet backwards unto the girt. The clone quickly got back to her feet and readied herself for another attack, but much to her shock, she saw the boy's body morphing and growing larger as his skin changed to a dark grey and his brown hair changed black. It completely astonished her at the sight that was now before her. Laura knew that Bruce Banner was dead and the only two Hulks left in the whole world where Jennifer Walters A.K.A She-Hulk and the new Hulk, Amadeus Cho. But yet here it was, a new Hulk. Laura wasn't concerned about reason as to why there was a new Gamma-powered behemoth on Earth; all that was running through her mind right now was one thing: Kill it.

"Hulk Smash Claw-Girl!" it exclaimed in rage

The grey-skinned giant let out a roar as it lunged at Wolverine with its massive hands out in front of it, ready to crush his opponent within them. The mutant ducked at the last second, but springing up upward and slashing her claws against the Hulk's arm, making him cry out in furious pain. The Hulk drew back in pain and bewilderment before looking at his deeply cut arm. Hulk had never been harmed before, sure he had taken several hard hits now and again from those he battled with, but this was the first time an opponent had made him bleed.

And it made him _**Mad!**_

"You Hurt Hulk!" he shouted furiously "Now Hulk Hurt You!"

Before Laura could react, the Hulk suddenly swatted her further backwards into a tree with a strong slap of the back of his hand. The clone attempted to get back to her feet, but her monstrous enemy charged forward and tackled her through several more trees and he continued to ram her in a straight pathway. Hulk finally dropped her from hold at a small open Cliffside. The new Wolverine once more tried to stand up, but was pinned down under the crushing weight of the monster's foot when he stomped on her chest, making a large amount blood spurt out of her mouth in doing so.

The Hulk then raised his fist into the air, ready to bring it down on her head. But just as he was ready to deliver the blow, Wolverine took her claws and jabbed them into the foot was holding her down. Hulk let out cry in pain as he quickly removed his foot from her person before raising both his fists into the air. Laura managed to roll out of the way before the two massive fists could slam her into oblivion. However, while the grey-skinned giant's fists didn't strike their intended target, they did strike a weak point in the cliff below their feet.

Within seconds, the cliff began break away and slid downward into a small lake that was below them. The two combatants tumbled down into the lake as the huge chuck of earth collided with the lake's deep water. Hulk and Wolverine fell into the cold water where instead of trying to swim back up to the surface, they continued their fight. Laura slashed the gamma-powered brute across the chest, making her enemy let out a gargled shout of pain. Hulk quickly retaliated by punching the side of the girl's face, driving her deeper into the lake's depths.

Laura swam upwards with her claws at the ready. Hulk tried to throw another punch her way, but she evaded it and lunged forward, striking him in the chest again with this time both sets of her claws, making a double-x pattern on his chest. In an act of blind rage, Hulk reached out and grabbed his attacker by the arm. With hardly using any of his strength, he flung the clone out of the lake and face first onto the banks before shooting out of the water like a rocket and into the air before landing in front of his opponent.

At this point, Laura's healing factor was working into overdrive to repair the damage that was done to her at the Hulk's hand. It was also very clear that the grey-skinned goliath was also trying to heal from his wounds. It was then that the Laura noticed the emergence of steam that was rising from the Hulk's skin. She could feel the heat coming off of the brute's body, indicating much like General Ross's Red Hulk form, this Hulk was getting hotter the madder and stronger it got. She dare not imagine what would happen if this Hulk became to hot, giving her all the more reason to end this fight quickly.

"Ok…" Wolverine growled as she got back to her feet "Let's try that again"

With a bestial snarl, Laura popped her two foot claws before kicking the Hulk in the side, deeply into his flesh as she did. The Hulk stumbled back in pain as he clutched his newest wound. With a defiant roar, Hulk blindly swung his other fist at her to which she easily dodged as she dashed around in order to get behind him. Laura then leapt at the Hulk back before he could turn around to face her, digging her foot claws into him to hold her in place before stabbing repeatedly with her other claws into the beast's tough hide. Hulk bellowed in agony as he tried desperately to get the mutant off his person.

In a manic attempt to get mutant off his back, Hulk suddenly jumped backwards and landed flat on his back, slamming Laura into the ground and crushing her under the full weight of his body. The girl's claws may have sunk deeper into his flesh, but once he got back to his feet, she was no longer clinging onto him. now Wolverine's healing factor really have to overtime to pull the girl back together for another round or so, but Hulk wasn't about to let that happen anytime soon.

The Hulk began pummel his enemy deeper in the ground with each blow of his mighty fists. Just as he was about to deliver another punch, Laura reach up with her own clawed fist and stabbed her attacker in-between the knuckles of his fist. The Hulk instantly stumbled back as he held his hand in pain. Seeing this as another chance to strike, Wolverine, fought through the pain as she staggered back to her feet and rushed toward the grey-skinned giant. The Hulk quickly shrugged off the injury to his hand and furiously bellowed, showing his challenger that he was ready to continue this battle.

 _ **Bang!**_

The sudden gunshot instantly got the two combatants attention. They both stopped dead in their tracks and turned to see two people, and old man and a teenage girl, step out from the forest to face them. The old man was carrying a still-smoking shotgun in his hands while the redheaded teenager was holding an ax tightly in her hands. While Laura was left confused by the pair's sudden arrival, the Hulk's expression softened slightly at the sight of the girl.

Stan and Wendy had witnessed the whole fight and decided that they had seen enough. While they did stay back while Dipper unleashed his inner monster on the superhero, they had to step in or else the two combatants may have torn down the whole forest if they were allowed to continue. Stan and Wendy had to hurry down the now destroyed Cliffside in order to find Hulk and Wolverine as they fought against one another, and at the rate of steam that was now rising from Hulk's body, they couldn't have come in at a better time.

"That's enough!" Stan commanded "I swear every time one of you spandex-wearing yahoo's show up it turns into a fight!"

"You need to leave" Wolverine informed them "It's not safe here!"

"It was safe until you showed up!" Wendy shot back before making her way to the Hulk "you ok big guy?"

"Claw-Girl hurt Hulk!" the beast growled irritably

"I know sweetie, but you need to calm down now, ok?" she soothed "Just take it easy"

"Hulk not want to calm down!" the grey-skinned giant spat as he pounded a fist on the ground "Hulk wants to smash puny Claw-Girl!"

"Hulk…" the ginger said in a firmer tone "I said calm down"

Laura was almost dumbfounded by what she was seeing. Few people had the bravery—or the common sense—to speak to a giant gamma-powered monster in such a way and lived to talk about it. But yet here she was, lecturing the behemoth like it was some pouting toddler. It was obvious at this point that these two people at a connection with this Hulk and his human alter-ego. Soon enough, the steam was coming off of the Hulk slowly stopped as the giant began to slow his breathing.

As Wendy was trying to get the monster to relax, Stan put himself between the two lowers and the new Wolverine, keeping his shotgun trained on her the whole time. He never cared much for superheroes, thinking they did more harm than good and the past few events that had transpired over the years proved his point. When he discovered that Dipper had be changed into a new Hulk by Hydra, it furthered his disdain for the superhuman community, showing that the so-called heroes let this evil to spread rather then stamp it out when they had the chance.

"Who is he to you?" the young mutant suddenly asked

"He's my grand-nephew" Stan found himself answering "and as you can guess, Wendy over there is his girlfriend"

"I gathered that" she answered plainly before asking "How did he come to be a Hulk?"

"Hey, you don't get to ask the questions here lady!" the con-artist snapped "Besides, you where probably sent here by S.H.I.E.L.D to kill him"

"You misunderstand, I wasn't hunting your grand-nephew" she corrected "I was hunting—"

Suddenly, a shrill howl cut through the forest, making everyone almost freeze in place out of terror. The group turned to see trees and underbrush being pushed aside as a massive figure lumbered toward them. The Hulk got in front of Wendy, placing himself in-between her and whatever manner of monstrosity was coming their way. Soon enough, the creature Laura was actuality hunting revealed itself. The beast was as large as the Hulk with the muscles to match. It was covered it snow white fur and had a long tail at the hulking of its body. The creature claws where as black as the night's sky and its eyes blazed red like a wildfire.

"Wendigooooo!" the monster howled

"…that" the mutant finished


	5. And The Wind Cries Wendigo!

Chapter Five: And The Wind Cries Wendigo!

The smell of blood from the fight between Hulk and Wolverine had attracted the beast out from its hiding place. The Wendigo knew it was being hunted by the clawed one for miles and had only just escaped from her finding it again, but the pangs of hunger drove the beast out from its safe haven in order to seek out food to sate its never-ending need to feed. The prey before the creature looked to strong to try to do try to take down, but the two smaller ones where perfect food for it to devour, however, the Wendigo had a sense that the other ones would not allow the smaller prey to be consumed.

Hulk let out a low growl through his teeth as he glared at the strange creature that had appeared before him. He didn't know where this strange creature can from, but he could already tell that this beast meant no good for either him or Stan and Wendy. He glance over to his pervious opponent, Wolverine, who like him, had nearly healed up from their battle and was equally leery toward the Wendigo as he was. As much as he would've liked to have continued his fight with the girl who had harmed him, protecting his family came first.

Stan wasn't a man who could be scared easily, but he knew when to back off and let his gamma-powered grand-nephew have this one. He slowly stepped backwards until he was behind the Hulk and the new Wolverine along with Wendy. The old con-artist noticed that his former employee didn't show any sign of fear on her face, instead it was an expression of courage on her face, but he knew it wasn't bravery for her, it was for her lover.

"Hey" he said to get her attention "He'll be ok"

"Yeah…" she answered half-heartily before looking back to the Hulk "I hope so…"

"Just what is this thing anyway?" Stan furthered

"It's called a Wendigo" Wolverine suddenly spoke up "a creature that's created when someone commits an act of cannibalism. Its sole purpose in life is to feast on the flesh of humans for all eternity. These things are as strong as Banner's Hulk was and are nearly indestructible"

"So how do you kill it?" Wendy questioned

"With great difficulty" the superhero admitted

"Hulk not care!" the grey-skinned giant proclaimed "Hulk smash fur-face!"

"We need a plan of attack, Hulk" Wolverine reasoned

"Hulk not need plan!" her pervious opponent shot back "And Hulk not need puny Claw-Girl!"

Before anyone knew it, Hulk suddenly backhanded the clone, sending her flying to a large bolder that knocked her unconscious upon impact. Wendy and Stan where shocked by the giant's sudden attack on the new Wolverine, sure she wasn't quite liked by either of them, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra help with dealing with a magical, flesh-eating monster. The two humans quickly readied themselves for a fight as the two monsters sized each other up, waiting for the other to make the first move.

With a powerful roar, the Hulk made the first move. He charged straight toward the Wendigo, who in turn roared back as a way of accepting the challenge before rushing toward its enemy. Hulk quickly took a step back to avoid a swing of the cannibalistic creature's claws before punching it across the face, making it stumble back. The grey-skinned goliath kept up the attack by punching it in then stomach, causing the Wendigo to double-over from the blow. Just before the Hulk could continue his assault, the flesh-eater's long tail took its opponent's legs out from under him.

Before the Hulk could jump back to his feet, the Wendigo pinned the Gamma-Powered brute under it, holding him down under its sheer weight. The Hulk used his arm to keep his enemy's snapping jaws away from his throat while he tried franticly to get the other monster off of himself by punching it wildly in the side. Despite the amount of rage he was feeling that was fueling his immense power, the monstrous cannibal matched the Hulk's incredible strength with that of his own.

The Wendigo's claws dug deep into the grey-skinned giant's skin, cutting him deeper then Wolverine had during their fight. Hulk's strength started to give way as the Wendigo's maw moved closer and closer to his neck. Suddenly, another gunshot rang out as the Wendigo let out a howl of surprise. The two monsters looked over to see Stan with a once again smoking shotgun.

"Hey asshole!" the old man shouted "Chew on this!"

Remembering that it was here to feast on the two humans, the Wendigo quickly climbed off of the Hulk and made its way toward the old man. The grey giant tried to stop the creature from attacking his family and get to keep its focus on him instead, but the beast slashed madly at the downed hero to keep him from interfering with its meal before turning its attention back to its prey. Wendy quickly rushed over to check on the Hulk's condition, Stan kept the creature occupied.

As the man-eating monster lumbered toward the con artist, Stan fired off round after round into the Wendigo's chest as he walked backwards away from the creature. But every single shell of buckshot that the former owner of the Mystery Shack stuck the monster proved ineffective. Stan continued to his clearly futile efforts to bring the beast down until he had spent his final bullet. The Wendigo had shrugged off the shotgun shells as if they were mere files that where pestering it, not even so much as a single drop of blood had fallen from the man-eater.

The Wendigo then reached out and took hold of Stan tightly around the waist. It then lifted the old man up to its face, allowing him to look the monster square in its blood red eyes. Not wanting to go out without a fight, he took his now empty shotgun and bashed it across the Wendigo's face, breaking it upon contact with its skin. This did nothing but only make the monster let out a snarl in anger before bringing the human closer to its face.

"I hope you choke on me" Stan growled with contempt as he glared back at the monster

The Wendigo opened its mouth wide as it brought its prey closer to its jaws. But just as Stan was just inches away from the monster's huge fangs, the creature suddenly snarled angrily as it looked down at what had attack it, dropping the old man in the process and giving him time to hide. Wendy had stopped the Wendigo from consuming her older friend, however, when she struck the monster with her axe, she had only managed to annoy meat-eater rather then harm it.

The Wendigo swiped its claws downward toward Wendy, who managed to evade the claws by jumping to the side and trying to strike at a weak spot with her axe, which broke upon contact with the monsters skin. Before Wendy could react, the creature's tail struck her in the side, sending her flying into a tree. The lumberjack's daughter could hear at least three of her ribs snap upon impact. She tried to move, but the pain in her side was too great for her to even stand up, leaving her at the mercy of the Wendgio.

Suddenly, a loud, rage filled roar echoed through the forest. The Wendigo turned to see the source of the roar, only to instead see a huge, grey fist at the last second that sent the man-eater flying into the lake. Once his opponent was temporarily taken out of commission, the Hulk bent down to see to the ginger. He reached down and gently helped her back up. It amazed Wendy to no end that one moment the Hulk could be a rampaging force of nature and in the blink of an eye become as gentle as a kitten.

"Is Wendy hurt?" he asked with concern

"I'll be fine, Hulk" she assured him before wincing in pain "eventually"

It was then that the Wendigo had managed to crawl back out of the lake, completely soaked and full of rage from taking the surprise hit from the other monster. Hulk growled in his throat back at his enemy as he set Wendy aside in a bush, hiding her from the carnivore's wrath. As his anger boiled in the Gamma-powered brute's veins, steam once again began to rise from Hulk's body as his pervious wounds had finally healed. The grey-skinned brute was already angry after being beaten down by the giant cannibal before, but seeing the Wenidgo threaten the life of the girl he loved—now that just made him furious!

The Hulk was about to rush at the Wendigo once more, but suddenly the monstrous cannibal let out a shriek of pain. The beast spun around to reveal Wolverine latched onto its back, stabbing away in the same way she had done to Hulk during their fight. Hulk and the humans where taken by this, they had assumed that the blow from the grey giant was enough to keep her down, but clearly that wasn't the case. Like the Hulk before it, the Wendigo tried fanatically to get the clone off its back, but the new Wolverine clung onto her opponent with everything she had.

Just then, the Wendigo's tail swiped the mutant off its back and back to the ground. But before it had a chance to recover, the Hulk rushed forward and delivered a powerful blow across its face, knocking it down into the dirt. Hulk then took hold of a huge bolder and easily lifted it over his head before bringing it down on the man-eater before it had a chance to stand once more.

While there common enemy was temporarily knocked out, the Hulk and Wolverine stared at each other. Stan and Wendy began to worry if they would start their battle again and let the Wendigo either get away or kill them both after they had worn themselves out. The mutant took a defensive stance as she narrowed her eyes up at the Gamma-powered giant, who only regarded her with confusion on his face.

"Claw-Girl…help Hulk?" he finally asked

"Against my better judgment, yes" Wolverine answered "But don't think I've forgiven you for sucker-punching me earlier"

"Will Claw-Girl help Hulk smash Fur-Face?" the grey-skinned monster inquired

"Only if you don't try to hit me again" she informed him

Just as the two agreed to their truce, their common foe had finally picked itself up off of the ground. It roared furiously at them both before charging toward them. Hulk and wolverine charged forward as well, ready to end this fight for good. Wolverine slashed her claws at the beast's left side while Hulk punched the flesh-eater in the gut, making it stumble back in pain. Laura kept up the attack by popping her foot claws and slashed at the Wendigo's legs, causing it to fall to one knee. However, when Hulk attempted to beat down the monstrous cannibal even further, the Wendigo suddenly swiped upwards with its claws, cutting deeply into Hulk's skin from his belly to his chest, nearly disemboweling him in the process.

As the Hulk cried out in agony, Wendy and Stan we're too horrified by what they had just witnessed to even make a sound. The thought no power or person could wound the grey-skinned goliath, but the proof that it wasn't the case was there right in front of them. For Wendy, she was watching the boy and monster she loved begin to bleed to death right in front of her and being unable to help him, she knew that Mason would face dangers like this one, but she always assumed that the Hulk was to powerful to be hurt in such a way.

Stan was equally as shocked as she was, if not more. He had already lost his grand-niece and by the look of it he was going to lose his grand-nephew. Even though he didn't show it much, the news of Mabel's death had left him distraught. He missed the girl dearly and he now he feared that he was about to watch Mason die right in front of him as well. The two of them watched as the Hulk fell to his knees, trying to stop the gallons of blood from leaving his body by covering it with his hand.

The Wendigo then wrapped its tail around Wolverine and quickly began to squeeze the life out of her, ignoring the mutant stabbing at its tail; it was too caught up in its own rage to care. As the cannibal began to pound away on the grey-skinned giant's back, everyone could only watch what could be the last moments of the Hulk and Mason Pines. The Hulk's wounds slowly began close, but sadly, they weren't healing as quickly as he needed them to.

The rage within the Hulk began to reach new heights as the steam from his body spewed from his skin at a faster rate. His grey skin began to heat up at an increased rate. The giant's fury burned inside him like a firestorm. He needed to—no!—he wanted to kill this beast that had wounded him so.

"Hulk want you stop to Fur-Face!" he commanded

But the Wendigo ignored him and continued its assault. At this point, the rage in the Hulk's height had grown stronger than it had in a long while. Suddenly, the skin on Hulk's arms began to crack apart and allow more steam to spray out his body. From the cracks, Wendy, Laura and Stan could see a small glimpse of the Hulk's body, showing them his that insides were now glowing a bright red color; like a reactor about to critical. The Wendigo attempted to continue its beating of the Gamma-powered brute, but the heat coming off the Hulk's body was too great for the man-eater to handle.

The Hulk suddenly shot back to his feet and took hold the Wendigo's hand with his own, crushing them with ease and making the beast screech in agony. The Hulk's roar echoed through the forest as he began to overpower the other monster with his newfound strength. His eyes were completely red, looking like those of a demon. The Wendigo was so caught up in trying to push back is opponent that it released its hold on Wolverine and allowed her to move aside from what was about to happen next.

"I SAID STOP!" Hulk exclaimed

With all of his might, the Hulk tore off the Wendigo's arms as easily as ripping wet paper. The once fearsome flesh-eater cried out in pain before its killer impaled its own arms through its chest. Hulk then ripped off the Wendigo's bottom jaw and rammed through the top of its head. The man-eater fell to the ground in a mutilated heap. The Hulk stomped on the corpses head, spewing blood and brain matter everywhere. The grey-skinned goliath threw back his head and unleashed a mighty roar that could be heard as far as Gravity Falls.

Once his fury had subsided, Hulk looked over to see if Stan and Wendy were still ok. But when he saw them, his heart sank, their initial fear of him dying had changed to a fear of him. Instantly, the giant felt ashamed of himself for terrifying those he cared for the most. As his rage slowly left him, the cracks in his felt started to close up as his body began to cool down and his eyes returned to normal. Soon, the Hulk slowly changed back and allowed his other half take control once more.

In no time at all, Dipper was once again standing before Stan and Wendy, only now he was covered in the blood and gore of his monstrous self's kill. He could only look down in sadness and shame for what the Hulk had done. The Hulk hadn't become that angry since…since _**that**_ day—the day that he first changed and unleashed the power of the monster within him; the day he hated himself the most.

Just then, Dipper felt a pair of arms wrap around him before being pulled into a tight embrace. He looked up to see Wendy holding him close to her body in a loving hug. Soon enough, his great-uncle walked up to him and also gave the boy a hug as well. Mason began to weep as he embraced them both; he couldn't for a better family.

"I'm so sorry" he said as tears fell from face "there so many things in this place that can hurt you, I never want one of those things to be me!"

"Ssshh, its ok" Wendy soothed gently as she rubbed his back "you—the Hulk, did what he had to do"

"You did good, kid" Stan assured "You both did"

"He's getting smarter, isn't he?" his lover asked, obviously referring to the Hulk "why didn't you tell us?"

"I wasn't totality sure" Dipper admitted "but now its clear that that's the case"

"What are we going to do about this?" his great-uncle inquired

 _ **Snkit!**_

The sound of Wolverine's claws popping out reminded them that there still the matter of the mutant that had tried to kill the young hero earlier. She stood before them with her claws out and in a battle stance, ready to continue their pervious battle.

"Oh come on, lady!" Stan shouted in annoyance as the trio broke the group hug "he just saved your life and now you wanna go for round two?"

"Your grand-nephew is to dangerous to be kept alive" she stated "he just admitted that his Hulk is growing smarter, and this world can't afford to have a monster like that"

"So that's it? You just decide that he needs to die?" Wendy argued "just because you wear that suit doesn't mean you have the right to choose who lives and who dies"

"And you can't just let that thing run free" Wolverine countered "what if the Hulk turns his rage on your town?"

"He'd never do that!" Mason suddenly shot back "the people of Gravity Falls love the Hulk and he loves them! He would never hurt them"

"Perhaps not intentionally" the mutant hero replied "But let's not forget that you're walking Gamma-Bomb"

She was painfully right; she had witnessed what lying under the Hulk's skin. If he became too enraged his body would be unable to handle all of the power his anger was fueling and the end result was that he would explode with the force of the very Gamma-Bomb that turned Banner into the monster he was remembered for. While it killed neither the hulk nor Mason, it turned everything into a mile-wide crater. The Hulk had only gone critical once, and Dipper never wanted to experience that level of devastation again.

"If you wanna get to the kid, you gotta get through me first!" Stan proclaimed as he stood in front of his grand-nephew

"Me to!" Wendy added as she stood beside him

"No" Mason ordered as he pushed through them and stood front of them "I'm not letting you get yourselves killed for me or the Hulk"

He scowled at Wolverine, showing that he didn't fear the mutant.

"Besides" he continued "If you and the Hulk fight again, you fun the risk of setting off the very thing your wanted to kill me for"

Laura silently considered her options. If she and the Hulk fought once more, then she could cause the monster to explode. But she couldn't allow a creature with that kind of power roam free, so she decided to withdraw and call someone who could handle this situation better, besides, she had been away from Gabby long enough and it would be in bad taste to try to kill the person who saved your life.

"Fine" she finally relented as she sheathed her claws "But don't think this isn't over"

"Goodbye, Wolverine" Mason replied "Your doing a bang up job of living up to your predecessor"

Laura snarled at that remark before turning away and walking off into the forest. Stan and Wendy were impressed that the young hero had managed to talk down to the mutant, but now they feared that other costumed vigilantes would come to their doorstep seeking a fight with the Hulk. But they hide their dread under their praises for the boy.

"Jesus Dipper, did the Hulk give you big balls to?" he asked in excitement "that was amazing!"

"I never wanted to have sex with you as badly as I do now" Wendy commented before looking over to a shocked Stan "oh knock it off, you knew we were doing it"

"Thanks guys" Dipper answered "for everything"

"So what do we do now?" the con-artist questioned

"We need to hold a town meeting at once" the young hero said "everyone needs to know what happening to the Hulk"

"And what about diet-Wolverine?" Wendy inquired "She's probably going to call someone else to try and kill you"

"Let them come" her lover answered "Let them all come. It's time to let these so-heroes know that I'm the strongest there is!"

* * *

Laura growled to herself as the boys last words rattled around in her head. Logan would've done the same thing, wouldn't he? The question nagged at her like a swarm of hornets in her head. But for now, it was out of her hands. It was time for someone else to handle this new Hulk problem, someone who could possible deal with the boy and his monster better than she could. With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone before calling up a person she thought she would never need help from.

"Tony" she began "There's something you need to know"


	6. Extreme Measures

Chapter Six: Extreme Measures

Dipper let out a yawn as he, Wendy and Stan headed back to town. He was completely exhausted after the events of today, and it didn't help that he didn't get a full night's sleep. The trio had piled back into Stan's car before driving back to Gravity Falls; all the while the young hero forced himself to stay awake despite the fierce urge to fall asleep in the back seat of the car. After what he saw what the Hulk did to the Wendigo, he feared what his alter-ego might do to those currently around him. But was increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open, changing back and forth from the Hulk always left him drained for a short time.

It was then that he felt Wendy put an arm around him. He looked over to her and gave her a small, warm smile for the gesture before putting his head on her shoulder. She kissed his cheek, silently assuring him that he was safe. However, despite her presence, Mason still feared that if he went to sleep for so much as even a minute that his inner beast would be subconsciously awoken and kill the woman he loved in a fit of blind rage.

Meanwhile, Stan was busy contacting the mayor's office in order to set up a town meeting. He was currently arguing with Tyler's secretary, who was trying to deny the con-artist's request to set up said meeting. Of course Dipper's great-uncle wasn't going to take no for an answer and was currently 'negotiating' on how to make the much needed meeting to happen.

"Now you listen to me you old bitch!" he shouted into the phone "either you tell the mayor to set up an emergency town meeting or I'll have my grand-nephew drop a bus on your head!"

"I'm not going doing that" Dipper commented dryly

"Did you hear that? He said he would totally do that!" Stan threatened before getting an answer he wanted "That's better, and make sure the word gets out!"

Dipper gave his great-nephew a scowl for his actions, but he wasn't surprised in the least. Even before the boy had been turned into a monster, Stan had a tendency to dole these ridiculous threats out to people, and now that his grand-nephew was a Hulk, he sometimes used Mason's inner monster as a way to get what he wanted. More than once Dipper had to assure the townspeople that he would never do the things Stan had said he would do to them. Before Mason could scold him yet again about his actions, former owner of the Mystery Shack's phone rang once more. Stan took one look at his phone before quickly putting it on speaker.

"Tell me you got some good news, Ford" he said to his brother on the other end

"I don't know if it counts as good, but we did find something" Ford replied

"What is it?" Dipper asked

"It's better if you come to the lab and see for yourself" was all the dimensional explorer answered

"Can't you just tell already instead of keeping us in suspense?" his twin demanded "we just set a town meeting for tonight!"

"Well you're going to have to push it back because this is important!" Ford snapped "I'll see you all at the lab soon"

with that, Ford hung up, leaving the trio wondering what he and the mad prospector had discovered from their tests results. Whatever it was, they had pretty good idea that it was nothing good.

* * *

Before they met with Ford and Mcguket, they stopped back at the Mystery Shack so that Dipper could get dressed as well as check on Pubitor. However, when they arrived, Soos informed them that the Manataur had already returned to his tribe, saying that he no longer required the help of those he deemed unmanly. Mason made a mental note to knock his monstrous friend into orbit for being such a rude house guest to the heavy-set man and his girlfriend. Once the teen had gotten dressed and grabbed a quick bite to eat, the trio once again piled into the car and headed off to meet with the two scientists.

As they the group entered the old man's mansion, they still where unsure as to what exactly Ford and Mcguket had uncovered within Mason's biology and even less sure if they wanted to find out. Mason was concerned if this new discovery about his body also had effects as to his Hulk scare as well. While he was certain that Gideon had found the real reason during their session, he couldn't shake the feeling that his great-uncle's findings may also be factor his is sudden transformation as well.

Stan had mentioned to him that the town meeting would take place around six tonight, giving them enough time to see what Ford and his friend had found and perhaps had there findings to the list of things he would have to address the town about. Just as they entered the mansion, Ford and Mcguket were standing there waiting for them.

"This better be pretty freaking important, Ford" Stan said

"I assure you it is" his brother answered "But first I need to show you something"

Before the trio could ask what he wanted to show them, the dimensional traveler sudden reach into his trench coat and produced a pistol, making the group jump in surprise. Suddenly, Ford took aim with his weapon and fired two rounds into Mason's chest. The teen fell backwards onto the floor in a lifeless heap, leaving Wendy and Stan in a state of total shock. Their minds could barley register what they had just witnessed, having surviving monsters and madmen, Mason Pines, the Hulk had been slain by two bullets fired by his own great-uncle hand.

Wendy ran over to the now still body of her boyfriend, overcome with confusion and sadness as she took her lover's body into her arms and began to weep. Stan on the other hand, had quickly gotten over his shock and instead of feeling remorse, he felt rage. With a cry of sheer anger, he lunged at his twin and tackled him up against the wall, putting his hands around Ford's throat in grip that felt like a steel trap. Among all the chaos, Mcguket remained surprisingly the calmest throughout all of what had just transpired.

"Why did you do that?!" he exclaimed in his sibling's face as he continued to strangle him

"Just…watch" Ford choked out as he pointed to his grand-nephews body

Just as he had said that, Dipper's eyes snapped open as he shot up, gasping for air as he did. The two bullet holes in his chest closed up, but not before spitting back out the two shells that had struck him. Even though she had no idea how or why Mason had suddenly been resurrected from his surprise death, Wendy now wept tears of joy as she held him tightly. Stan released his hold on his brother and nearly fell to his knees in awe at the sight of his grand-nephew's return to the land of the living, and judging by the equally bewildered look on Dipper's face, he wanted some answers as well.

"How…what…?" was all the teen could manage to say as he examined himself

"We'll show you" Mcguket said

The two scientists then gestured for the trio to follow them down the lower levels of the mansion, where they had converted once great gallery of precious items that belonged to the Northwest's into a giant laboratory. While Dipper and Stan had seen the massive machines and devices the two men had built, Wendy on the other hand, was amazed by all the technological equipment that the two elderly geniuses had constructed since the two brothers had returned. As they walked past the different machines, the redhead noticed a row of large, white empty cells lined down the backend of the room.

"What are those for?" she asked

"Mcguket and I built these cells in case one of the creatures here in Gravity Falls became to dangerous to be allowed to roam free" Ford explained "they have a force field that absorbs kinetic energy and redirects it back at the occupant in the form of a painful electrical shock so strong that it renders it's captive unconscious for short a period of time"

"Uh-huh, now can someone explain that to me in English?" Wendy commented

"You punch it, you get shocked" her boyfriend answered plainly

"What made you guys want to build something like this in the first place?" the ginger questioned furthered

"We originally built them to contain the Hulk should he be become to aggressive" Ford admitted

"But he kept smashing them during the tests" Dipper added on as he glanced over to Ford with fierce look in his eye "I guess some things just can't be contained"

"Nor can they be controlled" his great-uncle chided

"Oh knock it off already!" Stan sharply interjected

The two members of the Pines family ceased their bickering, but they did continue to give harsh looks at one another. Soon enough, they reached a large computer where Mcguket began to type up commands. Within seconds, the computer screen showed an image of Mason's body and showed his brain. As expected, his brain cells where irradiated like the rest of his body, but there was something flowing alongside his mutated cells. It looked like tiny shards of red and yellow colored metal clustered around one certain part of his brain. Dipper, Stan and Wendy were perplexed as to what exactly these things were, but they had a pretty good idea that it was more than likely a bad thing.

"What the hell is that?" Stan demanded

"It's called Extremis" Ford answered "it's a virus that rewrites a person's genetic make-up—organs and everything"

"It was designed to be the new super-solider serum" Mcguket continued "enhanced strength, speed, immune system, intellect"

"And apparently enhanced healing as well" Mason added as he shot Ford a quick glare

"Jeez, Hydra just pumped you full of a little bit of everything, didn't they?" the con-artist mentioned to his grand-nephew as joke

"We believe there's more to it then that" his twin elaborated

"What do you mean?" Dipper inquired

Mcguket typed up another command for the computer. Another image of his brain appeared next to the current picture. This new picture was different, this image showed no sign of radiation within it, but it showed much smaller traces of the virus in the exact same spot there were currently centered around in his brain.

"This is an image of your brain from a year ago" Ford furthered "Mcguket took it while you sleeping one night"

"It's a hobby!" the prospector piped in with mad laugh

"My…God" Dipper gasped "how long has this been inside of me?"

"By our estimate, a long time" the inter-dimensional traveler replied "Probably since you were still in your mother's womb"

Mason looked as if he was struck by lightning when he heard that. Even before his birth he was infected with this substitute super-solider serum, another ploy by his Hydra parents to make him a weapon. They only conceived him and his sister so they would help further their twisted cause.

" _Those bastards…_ " he thought angrily, with clenched fists " _I wasn't a son to them—I was just damn weapon!_ "

"Why couldn't you find this sooner?" Wendy suddenly asked

"It wasn't as activate as it is now" Ford answered "But the virus has always been in his system; giving him a boost in his life little by little"

It was all starting to sense to him. Even as a child, Mason was much more clever then those around him and he could move faster then any average twelve year old was. The evidence of the Extremis was never as clearly evident then as it was during his battle with Gideon and his robot-suit when he had carried off his sister. He easily made a leap across a canyon with little effort and crashed head-first into his former enemy's robot with little injury to his person, and any wounds he did sustain, he had healed in a less then an hour. He had effortlessly scaled huge buildings, survived falls that should've broken bones and had outsmarted monsters and madmen. He always assumed it was either adrenaline or sheer dumb luck that was on his side, but now he realized that it was nothing more than virus that was going to make him into a killer for a terrorist organization.

"It's probably what saved you when Hydra exposed you to that massive amount of gamma-radiation that turned you into the Hulk" his great-uncle explained "It must have fully activated when your body was trying to combat the radiation that was attacking your cells"

"But Dipper wasn't able to take bullets to the chest until now, what changed?" Wendy questioned further

"We think that the type of Extremis in his body is still evolving" Mcguket informed her "Think of it as a muscle that keeps getting stronger every time he flexes it"

"Or better put, Hulks out" his collage added on

"So every time I change, it gets stronger?" Mason surmised

"Precisely" the traveler said simply "and you become stronger with it"

"So he's getting stronger, what's the problem?" Stan commented "Your making it sound like there's no downside"

"The downside is that it could kill him!" his brother snapped

"Extremis was always a tricky thing" the prospector mentioned "it sometimes overwhelmed the host's systems and caused them well…die"

"So why wasn't it killed me yet?" was all Dipper could say

"It's possible that since you were born with the Extremis already inside of you, it just apart of your genetic structure now" Ford informed him "but just as Fiddleford said, Extremis has always been a tricky thing, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens next"

"You know, I just realized something" Stan mentioned "this thing might explain why the Hulk's getting smarter"

"The Hulk is getting what?!" his twin exclaimed in shock

"Way to go, Stan" Wendy muttered sarcastically

"Why didn't tell us this sooner, Mason?!" Ford demanded

"Because you'd act like this!" the teen snapped back "I wasn't even fully sure until the Hulk's fight with Wolverine and the Wendigo today"

"You fought Wolverine?!" the old explorer exclaimed in shock "do you know what this means?!"

"That I'm going to be up to my neck in people in spandex? The thought had occurred to me" his grand-nephew off-handily answered

"This isn't a joking matter, Mason!" Ford snapped "Now there could be a horde of superheroes heading this way as we speak. And need I remind you what happened to Banner when a group of heroes went to confront him?"

"There were bound to find me sooner or later" Dipper countered "It's better that we deal with this problem now than just sit around and wait for them to come knocking out our door"

"At what cost?!" the scientist demanded

The two members of the Pines family stared each other down, but before the argument could continue, Stan stepped in once more.

"We should get moving, kid" he began "that meeting is gonna be starting soon"

"Yeah…we should go" Dipper agreed

"We'll be here" Ford said with small sneer in his voice

Without another word spoken between them, Dipper left with Stan and Wendy while Ford and Mcguket returned to their research. There was a part of Dipper that wanted to stop and ask as to why Ford and Mcguket knew so much about the virus in the first place, but he was to anger with the old man to even bother. Besides, he had an urgent meeting to attend.

* * *

This wasn't the first time Mason had called for a town meeting. When he first returned to Gravity Falls, he personally asked Mayor Tyler to bring everyone together s he could tell them of his life's recent turn of events. Unable to deny a request from the boy who had saved the town and all of reality itself for that matter; he agreed and called for a town meeting. Once every single person within Gravity Falls had gathered at town hall, Dipper revealed what had happened to when he was Hydra's captive, and what was born from his torment. They where scared at first, knowing of the rage and raw power Banner's Hulk had when he was alive, but Dipper assured them that they had nothing to fear from his Hulk so long as they did something for him that the world never did for Bruce Banner's monster: love him.

It was difficult to say the least, to care for a monster that could turn the entire town into rubble with little effort was a bit of a challenge. But time and again, the grey-skinned goliath rescued them falling prey to whatever monster or villain attempted to do them harm. Soon the Hulk won the trust of the townspeople and trusted the beast with their very lives. So when another meeting was called at town hall in regards to they're protector, the people of Gravity Falls gathered once again to hear what Dipper had to say.

Once everyone was seated, Dipper walked on stage and stood behind the podium before looking out to the people he had sworn to protect. From Lazy Susan to Manly Dan and his sons—even Mason's former rival Robbie and his girlfriend Tambry and arrived to hear whatever the young hero had to say. The teen took a moment to gather his thoughts; he wasn't quite sure as to how they would take the news of the Hulk's growing intellect and his sudden revelation of the Extremis virus inside of him, but he refused to keep secrets from them—that's what nearly destroyed the town and the universe in the first place.

Mason then noticed a pair of young girls sitting in the front row: Candi and Grenda. Ever since the teen had returned to Gravity Falls and had told everyone of what had happened to his sister, the two girls kept their distance from Dipper. It wasn't that they hated the young hero, but just being around him made brought painful memories of all the good times they had with their now past friend. Rather then try to talk about this gap between them, Dipper instead gave them their much needed space.

He then glanced over to his right where Wendy, Stan and Soos where standing on the stage. His lover gave him a small, warm smile that gave him the courage to speak up. With one more calming inhale and exhale, he leaned forward into the microphone and spoke.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming on such short notice" he began "I wouldn't have called this meting unless it was necessary"

"What's this all about?" Dan asked

"There's no easy way to tell you this, so I'm just going to come out and say it" Mason said "The Hulk is becoming smarter"

A wave of murmurs and gasps was the response from the crowd. Some where justifiably afraid of this recent development while others where suspicious that perhaps there was more going on than Mason was letting on.

"Yeah murmur it up, D-bags" Stan muttered before being elbowed in the arm by Wendy

"I understand your concerns" Dipper quickly added "But I assure you that while the Hulk is getting smarter, he still cares for you all"

"How can he be getting smarter in the first place?" Lee questioned

"We've just now discovered a type of virus in my body called Extremis" the young hero explained "Apparently, it's been in my body since before I was born. It may be that every time I Hulk out that the Extremis is allowing his intellect to grow with which change"

"And what will happen when he does get smart?" Durland inquired

The question completely caught Dipper off guard. In all time he had he known that his monstrous alter-ego was growing in intellect, he had never stopped to ask: what would he do? The Hulk was a kind and gentle soul to those who treated him with love and respect, but what if the gamma-powered behemoth decided he wanted more from the people of Gravity Falls than just they're love and admiration? Dipper knew what a smart Hulk was capable of, he had seen when Banner's inner beast could think for himself, and the results where not pretty. But on the other hand, unlike Banner's Hulk, his other persona wasn't treated with hostility as the once great scientist's was.

"I…don't know" the teen admitted

Again, more murmurs and whispers carried throughout the room. Dipper couldn't blame them honestly; even he didn't have the right answer for them. Suddenly, a voice cut through the crowd.

"I'll tell you what'll happen!" the voice announced "You'll kill us all!"

Dipper instantly recognized the voice. He, along with everything in the room, turned their attention to had spoken and found none other than Pacifica Northwest standing before them, much to the chagrin to the Pines family. After her farther attempted to unite with Bill Cipher, Pacifica's family had become something of a pariah among the town. Since then the once great Northwest had a difficult time putting both their businesses and their reputation back together. While her parents mostly stayed out of sight, the young heiress attempted to repair the damage her farther had down to their family name.

But yet even with the money they still had remaining in their name, not to mention the amount personal change Pacifica had gone through, she was still met with a cold shoulder. While she always attempted to extend an olive branch to everyone, she despised Mason upon his return to Gravity Falls. Out of everyone within the town, she was the first one to warn everyone the dangers of allowing the teen to stay among them, but due to her low status around town, she was generally ignored. However, it was clear that she had the crowd's attention this time around.

Despite all of her protests against the Dipper and the Hulk, the young hero knew why she was really on a constant crusade to demonize him to the public, but for her sake, he kept the true reason behind her hatred of him to a secret.

"Did you all forget the last time we had a smart Hulk on our hands?" she asked the townspeople "Three words: World. War. Hulk!"

The event Pacifica was referring to was dubbed so when Banner's Hulk returned to earth shortly after the first superhuman civil war with a fleet of alien ships at his command. The now intelligent Hulk told the people of earth that Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Stephen Strange and the king of the Inhumans, Black Bolt had shot him off into space against his will were he then crash landed on a planet where he soon became king and had even taken a wife. But his new found happiness was short lived when the ship he was carried away in was detonated and killed thousands of his citizens—including his wife.

For days, the Hulk and his army held New York City hostage as the world watch hero after hero fall to the monster's rage. He had gone as far as to kidnap those who had betrayed him and forced them to fight one another in a coliseum. The madness was finally put to an end when the hero known as the Sentry fought the Hulk to a draw, but not before his rage nearly cracked the very planet in half.

"What happened with Banner's Hulk was because of Stark and his Illuminati" Dipper argued "Besides, my change is on command, not triggered by anger"

"But you have trouble changing back, don't you?" the heiress retorted "What if your girlfriend isn't around to calm you down before the Hulk takes full control, or worse, what he turns on her before she can change you back"

Mason was visibly stunned by that remark. He didn't take into account that should the Hulk grow smarter, would he even listen to Wendy or anyone for that matter? Even worse, what if he turned his fists on them?

"So who's to say when your Hulk gets smart enough that he won't make us kill each other for his amusement?" she continued as he narrowed her eyes directly at Dipper "and let's not forget that your living gamma-bomb. The Hulk gets mad enough—then Boom! Goodbye Gravity Falls!"

At this point, the murmuring had grown into a full grown conversation among the townspeople on the matter of the Hulk's ever growing intelligence. Stan and Wendy were about to step in and defend Mason, but the young hero silently gestured for them to stand down before speaking up again.

"look, I'm not going to lie and say that you have nothing to worry about, because the fact is that you do" he started off "But I'm not Bruce Banner and my Hulk isn't like his Hulk. Because I…we have something neither of them had: love. Ever since I told you all about what I had become, you've given both the Hulk and I nothing but your love, and if you still have any love for me and the Hulk, then please…please still give us a chance"

There was no applause, no cheers, but Dipper could almost sense that his words did have some form of impact on them. Pacifica only continued to scowl at her enemy before finally turning away in disgust.

"Meeting adjourned" Dipper concluded solemnly

* * *

Dipper, Wendy and Stan stood outside town hall and watched as the townspeople left. They said nothing as the people looked back at the teenager with mixture of confusion and fear in their eyes. Dipper didn't blame them for being afraid, in truth; he was starting to fear what was growing inside of him as well. Stan and Wendy wanted to say something encouraging to him, but they were also feeling the fear of what his inner monster could soon become. They had seen the full savagery of the Hulk when he brutally slew the Wendigo right in front of them and wondered what would be the fate of the people of Gravity Falls if he chose to turn that very fury on them.

Just then, Dipper noticed Pacifica walking out of the building. Mason decided that it high time that he finally confront the shamed heiress about why she really despised him. Wendy was about to follow him, but her lover put up a hand to stop her, silently telling her that he wanted face the girl alone. Once Pacifica saw her rival walking toward her, she stopped and crossed her arms as a sly smirk of victory formed on the corner of her mouth.

"Well I hope you're proud of yourself" Mason said as walked toward her, giving her a slow clap as he did "You've successfully made everyone in this town afraid of me"

"They should've always been afraid of you" the heiress snidely remarked "I just reminded them why"

"You think I'm not aware of what the Hulk could do?" the young hero shot back "I'm just scared as everyone else, but I didn't want to whip them up into a panic like you did!"

"If I didn't care you out on your BS you would've lied to everyone in that room!" Pacifica harshly replied "you're a Monster, and I won't stop until you've been run out of this town!"

"Alright cut the shit, Pacifica!" Dipper snapped "This isn't about the town—this is about Mabel!"

Pacifica's eyes widened with visible shock in them when she heard that name spoken. Rather then attempt to argue or deny what Mason had meant by that, she only glared at him in defiance.

"How long did you know?" she demanded

"I saw the text messages between you and Mabel. The E-Mails…everything" he informed in a softer, yet more somber tone "even the pictures…"

The blonde's response came in the form of a hard slap across his face. Mason shrugged off the strike and instead looked back at her with a mix of pity and remorse in his eyes.

"You had no right!" the heiress declared "How did you even find out?!"

"Find out? Mabel showed me everything!" Dipper answered harshly "she couldn't keep it a secret that she was in love with you!"

Shortly after the twins returned home, they stayed in touch with their friends in Gravity Falls. Dipper spoke constantly with Wendy while Mabel spent her time chatting online with Candi and Grenda. However, several weeks later Mabel began to have chats with her former rival. The two had become close friends since the twins had departed from the town. Soon enough, her brother began to suspect that his sibling was closer then just friends with the heiress. One day, Mabel burst into Mason's room, proclaiming that she was in love.

At first, her twin assumed that she had gained another boy to crush on until she would soon forget about and move on to the next. But Mabel when said that she found the perfect girl, he nearly choked on the soda he was drinking. She had told him that had formed a relationship with Pacifica and was filled with nothing but joy. She had been attracted to boys in the past—both human and otherwise—but when her former rival revealed her feelings for her, the hyperactive felt a sort of…spark go off within her, like it was meant to happen.

Mason was very supportive toward his sister's new attraction toward Pacifica, as was their parents, who were all just glad that she had found someone who cared for her. Mabel urged her family to keep her new girlfriend's homosexuality a secret since her parents would disprove of their daughter. Mabel had even talked about wanting to spend spring break with her new girlfriend over dinner one night, sadly that was also the night when everything Mason knew and loved turned into a living hell.

"Why…" Pacifica growled "why did you let her die?!"

"There was nothing I could do!" he defended "I wanted to save her, but it was too late!"

"So you keep saying…" she sneered

With that, she turned away and headed off, leaving Mason alone with his shame. Once she was far enough away from everyone else, Pacifica reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone before dialing up a number. In the time that Dipper's inner monster had become the town's protector, the heiress had made contact with new friend who offered to not only help repair the damage her farther had done to their family, but also get her revenge on Mason in the name of the girl she loved. She reported every fight the Hulk won in return her ally would send money and resources that she used to rebuild the Northwest name.

Pacifica had never met her contact's in person, nor asked why he had such a great interest in the Hulk, but she honestly didn't care, so long as she could save her family and claim vengeance on Mason's head than she would gladly pay any prince to get what she wanted.

"Mr. Green, its Pacifica" she said "I have some news you need to hear"

"That being?" Mr. Green's voice asked in a disinterested tone

"The Hulk's getting smarter" she informed him

There was pause on her alley's end for several moments before spoke up once more.

"Your sure?" he inquired in a more curious voice

"Mason just announced it to everyone at a town meeting" his informant explained before asking "What are we going to do?"

"We need to strike now before its too late" Mr. Green answered "I think it's time we met"

* * *

As Mason laid on his bed and stared blankly up at the ceiling, he mentality digested everything that had transpired today while Waddles curled up next to his, allowing his new master to gently pet his head. From the Hulk's encounter with the Wendigo, his revelation about the Extremis virus and the whole town starting to fear him, he was beginning to wonder what he should do now. If he was Banner, then he would pack up his things and run off to some where far away and secluded from any human populace without so much as a goodbye to his friends and family.

But that was the cowards' way out, and if everything that had happened in his life had taught him anything, it was not to run from your problems and instead face them head on. However, this time the monster he was facing was inside of him—and he was growing smarter with every change. Dipper knew he could change on command and briefly considered to simply to keep the Hulk locked up. The Extremis gave him new abilities, so he could combat them on his own now. But if last night was any indication, the Hulk could let himself if he truly wanted to. Besides, there were things both in this town and from the outside world that only the Hulk could fight off.

Suddenly, he heard a knock at his door before it opened to reveal Wendy step inside with a large paper bag with Chinese writing on it. Mason leaned up to face his girlfriend, wondering what she was doing here so late.

"Hey" she greeted softly as she held up the bag "I brought some Chinese"

Not only did the changes back and fourth from the Hulk not only leave the teen feeling tiered, but also incredible hungry as well. He could consume a mass amount of food without gaining a single pound thanks to his now superhuman metabolism, weather that came from the Hulk or the Extremis virus he couldn't say. Mason moved over a bit to allow his lover to sit down and pull out several boxes of food for him to eat while she only took out one for herself.

"Your to good to me, your know that?" Dipper joked in a hollow tone

"So you've told me several times" she replied "Go on, eat up"

"What are you even doing here?" Mason asked "Isn't your dad that you snuck out to see me—again?"

"Like he's gonna get pist off at a guy who turns into a an enormous grey rage monster" the ginger answered with a chuckle

Her boyfriend, however, didn't laugh to her joke. Instead, he only gave her a cold look that made her quickly stop laughing.

"Right. Sorry. Just trying to lighting the mood" Wendy apologized "You've had a pretty shit day"

"That's putting it mildly" he responded with a haggard sigh

Wendy than put her hand on his and gave it a comforting squeeze, letting him know she was there for him.

"Hey, it'll be ok" the redhead assured gently "We'll figure something out"

"I honestly don't know if we can" her boyfriend admitted "I don't know if the Hulk can be trusted at this point. You saw what he did to the Wendigo—what if he does the same to Gravity Falls?!"

"Then we need to do what you don't those people to do tonight" she replied "He needs our love"

Dipper said nothing in response to that. Instead, he learned forward and kissed his girlfriend deeply on the lips, a kiss she returned with just as much passion. After several seconds of kissing one another, Mason pulled back.

"Thank you, Wendy" he said with a small smile "For everything"

"Don't mention it, y'a dork" she said with a smirk before kissing him on the cheek

The two then ate in silence for a short time, simply enjoying one another's company. Waddles helped himself to one of the boxes of food, giving the couple to laugh at. After awhile, Wendy spoke up once more.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask in regards to this Extremis thing" she began "if it's been inside you since before you where bourn, then that would mean Mabel probably had it to"

"I know what your going to ask" her lover interjected "and the answer is no, she didn't survive"

"But maybe this thing saved her life like it did with you" the ginger countered

"If it was inside her, then it didn't do anything to save her" Dipper replied sharply "I watched her die"

"You know, you've been really sketchy on how Mabel died" Wendy pointed "I know it's not something you want to talk about—"

"Then don't talk about it!" Mason snapped before instantly calming down "I-I'm sorry. It's just that it's not an easy thing to think about…let alone talk about"

He then reached out and hugged his lover tightly, to which she hugged back. She then heard the sound of her boyfriend weeping into her shoulder.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" he wept "I know you all miss her as much as I do, but I keep telling myself that if I don't talk about it then it didn't happen!"

"Hey, hey, it's ok" Wendy soothed "Its ok…"

The redhead allowed her lover to let out all of his sadness and frustration. Mason held himself together quite well all things considered, but it was obvious that he only hold that front up for only so long. Wendy wasn't much different, she to felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders sometimes, but her boyfriend had to fight through the pain of losing his sister, being betrayed by his parents and now fearing the monster hiding inside of him. It was nothing sort of a miracle that he hadn't gone totally insane yet.

It was then that Wendy pulled away and removed her hat from her head before beginning unbuttoning her over shirt. This action of course confused her lover. They had made love in the past, but he wasn't exactly in the mood right now.

"What are you doing?" Dipper asked

"I'm not leaving you alone tonight" Wendy informed him as she kicked off her boots "so scoot over, I'm bunking with you for the night"

"But the Hulk—"he attempted to reason

"Won't hurt me" she cut him off as she began to pull down her pants before muttering "I hope"

Mason could never deny what his beloved wanted. So he began to remove his clothing as well and gave his lover enough space for her to lay down with him. Waddles made his way to the foot of the bed as his new master and his girlfriend wrapped each other up in one another's arms. With one kiss between them, they both soon drifted off into sleep.

* * *

The sun's light hit Dipper's eyes, forcing him to awaken. He suddenly remembered why he feared sleeping in the first place and began to look over himself, a still sleeping Wendy and the very room itself for any signs of if he had transformed the previous night. Thankfully, everything—and everyone—remained unharmed. Dipper sighed in relief, but he still had no idea how or why the Hulk didn't try to take over while he slept. Then he looked over to his lover's sleeping form. Perhaps her very presence had made soothed the monster within him. With a warm smile, he leaned down and gave Wendy a small peck on the check.

"I love you" he whispered to her

Mason felt like a new man, like his entire body had been recharged—then again that could've been because he had hadn't gotten much sleep lately. The young hero got the brilliant idea to make his beloved redhead breakfast in bed as a way of thanking of her for keeping the Hulk at bay. But just as he got out of bed, he heard a tapping on the bedroom window.

He turned around and expected to see a bird or some magical creature asking for the Hulk's help. But instead he found something—or better put—someone he hoped to never see in his lifetime.

" _You've gotta be shitting me…_ " he mentally groaned " _ **him?!**_ "

"Hi. You must be Mason" Iron Man greeted as he hovered in front of his window with the Vision and what looked like a female Thor at his side "Let's talk"


	7. The Avengers

Chapter Seven: The Avengers

" _It's too early for this"_ Dipper mentally grumbled to himself as we faced off with Avengers

After getting the impromptu visit from the team of superheroes, Dipper had woke up Wendy before getting dressed and heading out to meet with them face to face. His lover begged him not to step outside, for she feared these so-called heroes would surly kill him for being the Hulk. Dipper told her, Soos and Melody to stay inside with the doors locked and under no circumstances to go outside while the Avengers where still her. He then kissed his beloved redhead deeply, knowing this may be the last time he would see her. As Dipper walk toward them, he didn't need to wonder about how they found out about him or why they where here—all he was concerned about was if this was going to end violently or not

Wendy and Soos begrudgingly complied with the young heroes orders and could only watch from inside the Mystery Shack as the teen walked out to face the Avengers alone. Wendy called Mcguket's mansion and informed Stan and Ford of the Avengers arrival in gravity Falls and that their grand-nephew was about to do battle against Tony Stark and his entire team. Stan informed her that they would be there as soon as they could, even though they didn't really have an idea as to how to keep the Avengers from antagonizing Dipper from unleashing the Hulk. They could only hope that the teen could keep his inner monster at bay and handle this problem peacefully.

Mason stood his ground as he crossed his arms and glared up at Stark as the armored hero and his teammates landed in from of him. He expected to find an army of heroes at his doorstep as opposed the mere seven that stood before him, but he kept his guard up in case these costumed thugs attempted to pull something on him like they did with Banner.

This incarnation of the team of earth's mightiest heroes left much to be desired in the teen's opinion. Of course first and foremost was Iron Man, who was wearing his latest suit of armor which from what Dipper understood could morph into other models of Stark's past armors as well as self-repair and the rate it was damaged. If a fight did break out between them, Mason reveled in the thought of pummeling the armored Avenger senseless.

Following that was another long-running member of the team, the Vision. An android that was created by the villainous machine Ultron to kill the Avengers, but he betrayed his 'farther' and joined the heroes. Since then, he had been a long standing member throughout the years. Mason didn't dare take the machine lightly, for the Vision had powers that rivaled even Thor's might.

Speaking of Thor, this was a new sight to behold. The teen had heard that recently the thunder god had become a thunder goddess after the son of Odin lost his ability his mystical hammer, Mjolnir. Since then, an unknown woman had taken on the role of the champion of Asgard after picking up the god's hammer after it found her to be worthy.

Next up was Captain America; however, this was not the same sentinel of liberty. Instead, this new Captain America was once the pervious Cap's sidekick, the Falcon. He had recently taken up the role and the shield of his partner after the pervious Captain was robbed of his super-solider serum, however Mason had heard that the original bearer had been somewhat restored—how this was done Dipper could care less about.

Then there were the final three members, who to Dipper's surprise were all the same age as he was. First was the new Ms. Marvel, an Inhuman who hailed from New Jersey and had the ability to stretch her body and even grow and shrink in size. Next was the new Nova, who replaced the original after he was killed in a cosmic battle. And finally was Spider-Man—or better put—a Spider-Man. This one was dressed in a black and red costume and apparently had the abilities that the other Spider-Man did not such as turning invisible and a touch that that could stun his enemies.

Despite being outnumbered seven to one, Mason stood tall before his new opponents. But inside he feared what would happen if this escalated. He feared what would happen if he turned the Hulk loose—for his family and the whole town's sake. However he would surrender himself to these vigilantes who would either lock him up and throw away the key or try to force him into fighting in their second pointless civil war.

"I'm only gonna say this once" Dipper announced "Fuck off"

"Sorry. No can do" Tony said "Not until we get some answers"

"Well your not getting any, Stark" Mason informed him coldly

"You've got nothing to worry about, kid" Iron Man assured him

"Right, I bet you told Banner the same thing" the teen replied "by the way, is Hawkeye hiding somewhere with arrow for me as well?"

From the faces that weren't completely covered, Dipper could see a collective dejected look of sorrow from the group of heroes. Mason resisted the urge to smile at the fact that his words visibly hurt the costumed thugs. The teen normally didn't take shots like that to most people without feeling awful about it, but in the case of these so-called 'heroes' he took a sort pleasure out of reminding them of their sins.

"What happened to Bruce was…unfortunate" Vision answered grimly

"Unfortunate?" Dipper repeated in disgusted "you killed a man in cold blood and you say it was unfortunate?"

"It was a tragedy" Tony commented sadly "no one regrets what happened to Bruce more then me"

"Yeah, because you two were _such_ good friends" Mason sneered "This is the same Bruce Banner who you shot into space without so much as a trial and caused two worlds to suffer for stupidity. The man you and the rest of your costumed buddies looked at like a pariah for years. The same man, who you kept in your shadow because you're ego couldn't bear the thought of someone being as smart as you!"

Stark clenched his fist in anger, but more at himself then at the teenager. He would never fully admit it to those around him or even himself that he always did resent Bruce for his intellect. He always lorded over Bruce that he had everything Banner never had, but he never meant for things to end the way they did between them.

"Banner was no saint, but he got a pretty shit deal from you" Mason continued "If anyone deserves to be shot into space—or with an arrow—it's you!"

"Damn" Nova muttered as he looked on at the verbal beating the team's leader had received

"Listen ki—"the new Captain America attempted to say

"Next person who calls me 'kid' gets punched into Canada" Mason warned

"Listen, Mason" the former Falcon corrected himself "This isn't about Stark, this is about you"

"And what have I done to earn your attention?" Dipper asked, despite already knowing the answer

"We know what you are" Thor spoke up "and we want to help you"

"I've seen what happens to the people you help" the teen replied "no thank you"

"So what? Your just gonna stay here and pretend that you're not a monster?" Spider-Man questioned sharply

"We just want to help you" Ms. Marvel added on "Maybe even cure you"

"I don't need to be cured" Mason argued "You think I don't know what the Hulk could do? I'm scared of myself these days, but this town needs me—it needs the Hulk!"

"And what happens when the town needs saving from you?" Iron man inquired

Now it was Mason's turn to remain silent. He still didn't know what he could do to stop the Hulk from attacking the town, but he was certain that the Avengers way of aiding him was either locking him up in some maximum security cell in the middle of god knows where or just shooting him into the sun. He may have his own fears about the monster inside him, but it would be a cold day in hell when he turned to a group of people he saw as nothing more than super powered thugs for help.

As he stood in silence and glared defiantly back at the armored avenger, he failed to notice Captain America walking up to him. The new sentinel of liberty then put his hand roughly on the teen's shoulder.

"This isn't up for debate" he informed him "Your coming with us"

Before he even realized what he was doing, Mason balled up his fist and cracked the Avenger across the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Both the heroes and Dipper's friends were completely awestruck by what they had just collectively witnessed. The former Falcon jumped back to his feet and delivered a powerful uppercut to Mason's chin, sending him to the ground. A part of Mason wanted unleash the Hulk right then and there while the other part him wanted to let the Extremis kick in and fight them as he was.

The problem with both plans was that they both would end poorly. If he Hulked out then was no guarantee that the grey-skinned giant would stop after fighting off the Avengers and continue to smash everything—and everyone—in sight. As for fighting with the Extremis helping, he had only heard of this thing just yesterday and hardly knew how to fight. Even though he had a pseudo-super solider inside of him, it would be useless to him since he didn't know any forms of combat to go long with the enhanced abilities he possessed.

At this point, the Avengers had their weapons out and their powers changed up and collectively had them aimed directly at him, thinking that he would transform into his monstrous form at any given second. Suddenly, Wendy burst out of the Mystery Shack and attempted to rush to her lover's aide. In a knee-jerk reaction, Tony fired a low-level repulseor blast from his glove that struck the girl in the chest and sent her flying backwards in the wall of the Shack, knocking her unconscious from the force of the impact.

"Jesus, Tony!" Cap shouted in shock

"Have you lost your mind?!" Spider-Man exclaimed

"Relax, she's ok. Just a few bruised ribs" Iron Man shrugged off

Dipper, however, saw this attack on his girlfriend as an act of war. He tried to stand and go to her side in order to wake her back up, but was struck in the back by a repulsor blast in the back that kept him on the ground. Soos and Melody rushed outside and scooped up Wendy and pulled her back inside, knowing what was happen next. They locked the doors and got away from the windows, all the while praying that it would be over quickly.

Mason knew had no way of avoiding it now. If he was to stop the Avengers and drive them away from the town, he would have to unleash the Hulk. He knew this was horrible idea, but the superheroes would take him away here and now or worse, harm someone else he cared about. He could only hope that his inner monster would keep the fight within the forest and keep it away from the rest of Gravity Falls. With that, he gathered his thoughts and allowed the change to begin.

"You wanted the Hulk, Stark?" he said as his eyes changed to red "Well you got the Hulk!"

The Avengers could only watch in horror as the teenager's body morphed into the new Hulk that they had come to contain. Soos and Melody could hear their friend's cries of pain as the change began, meaning they had to get to cover at once. They carried Wendy to the Mystery Shack's lower level that was once Ford's lab and now used as a storage closet, or in this case a bomb shelter.

Once the transformation was complete, the monster looked down at his costumed foes with a type fury that swelled in his chest like a raging firestorm. He saw them harm his beloved Wendy via his connection to his other half and he swore that not of these pitiful creatures would live to see tomorrow.

"Hulk Smash _**Everyone!**_ " Hulk declared

* * *

After being given the address on where to meet the mysterious Mr. Green, Pacifica traveled in secret to her destination. She had snuck out from her much smaller home, knowing her parents could care less about what she did these days. Admittedly, she was scared of meeting her anonymous ally in person, fearing that the enigmatic Mr. Green would turn on her the moment they met in person. But her quest to avenge her lover drove her onward to come face to face with her partner.

Soon enough the heiress made her way to the outskirts of town where she found herself standing before a large, run-down factory sitting out in the middle of the woods on the edge of town. The aging building was not unknown to her; in fact it had some ties to her family. This building was once owned by her grandfather who had it pump out shoddy products for years until closing it down in order to save some money.

Pacifica fought through her fears and entered the factory. The second she stepped inside the factory and was instantly awestruck by what she saw inside. The entire interior had been transformed into a massive laboratory that rivaled what Ford and Mcguket had done to her former home. As she marveled at the sights before her, she failed to notice the figure walking up behind her.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" the stranger asked "I'm amazed I put this all together by myself in such a short time"

Surprised by the voice, Pacifica whirled around to see who had snuck up on her and gasped in horror at was now standing before her. It didn't take long for the young girl to figure out this was none other than Mr. Green. She had heard stories about this man—none of them good, so why would offer his help in getting revenge on Mason?

"Y-you?!" the heiress stammered out as she began to back away "B-but your dead!"

"The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" Mr. Green corrected "Let's just say I have a new lease on life"

"Why do you want to help me?" Pacifica questioned hesitantly

"Because I know a thing or two about Hulks" her alley answered "and I know they need to be wiped from this world!"

Pacifica was obviously still on edge with Mr. Green. He was a well-known global threat and could be lying to her about everything he said to her up to this point. The villain noticed the girl's tension and smirked slightly at the sight.

"You have every reason to be scared of me, Ms. Northwest" Mr. Green informed her "But if you want to get the revenge you seek, then you're going to have to trust me"

He did have a point, if she was going to avenge Mabel, than she would have to go to great lengths to do so—even if that meant dealing with madman to do so.

"I don't care what it takes" she finally found herself saying "if you can help me kill Mason Pines, then I'll do whatever you say"

"A wise choice, my dear" Mr. Green replied "Now follow me, I have something to show you"

The girl's ally then lead her to a large glass tube that was connected to several wires and cables. The tube also had a huge vent at the top of it that was connected to a large chamber that came down from the ceiling. Pacifica felt a chill run up her spine from just looking at it.

"What's this for?" she inquired

"This, Ms. Northwest, will give you the power to kill the Hulk" Mr. Green explained "If one wants to stop monsters, than one must become a monster"

Pacifica knew exactly what he meant by that. The chamber was built for her and her alone. There was a part of her that was screaming at her to leave this place right this instant and cut all ties to working with Mr. Green. But she fought off her desire to run as her need for vengeance took over her line of thinking. Without another word spoken, Pacifica stepped into the glass chamber.

Once inside, Mr. Green went over to one of the computers that was connected to the chamber and activated the machine. Within seconds the tube was filled with thick green gas that covered the young girl in an instant. Pacifica screamed in pain as her body began to twist and morph into something new and monstrous. Her hair and skin changed dark green as she grew in size. Her muscles enlarged as her fingernails and toenails grew into talons and her teeth grew into fangs. Dark green feathers started to sprout along chest and down to her hips. Suddenly, a pair of green feathered wings erupted from her back and spread outward and shattered the glass tube that contained her.

The creature that was once Pacifica slowly lumbered out of the remnants of the chamber and toward Mr. Green, who smiled darkly at his newsiest creation. The seven foot tall winged beast looked down at its creator with contempt in its eyes.

"So tell me, Pacifica" he asked casually "how do you feel?"

"Like I want to kill the Hulk" she growled with clenched fists

"Then go fourth, my Harpy, and claim your vengeance" her creator said

With one beat of its wings, the newly created Harpy rocked up through the ceiling and into the sky, ready to finally end the monster that killed her lover.

* * *

The Hulk bellowed furiously as he bolted toward the Avengers—Stark in particular. Before anyone could react, Hulk had already punched the armored Avenger a solid forty feet backwards through several trees before turning his rage on the other superheroes. Thor flew forward and smashed her hammer across the beast's face, making him stumble backwards. The thunder goddess continued to swing away on the grey-skinned goliath, keeping the brute off-balance for as long as he could.

Suddenly, the Hulk caught Thor by the arm and delivered a blow to her stomach that made her double over in pain. While she was stunned, Hulk grabbed her by the cape and hurled her right into Captain America, who was coming to his teammate's aid. The two were sent crashing through the Mystery Stack's wall, landing in what was the gift shop before the destroyed it upon impact.

It was then that the Hulk was struck in the back by the combined energy blasts of Vision and Nova. The Hulk fought through the pain as he slowly made his way forward toward them. Once he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed them both by the head. However, the android phased through the Hulk's hand and fired an energy blast point-blank into the gamma-powered monster's face, blinding him and forcing him to release to his grip on the young hero he had in his clutches.

While the beast was temporarily stunned, Ms. Marvel stretched herself out and wrapped her body around the Hulk in an attempt to hold him down. Spider-Man also tried to tie him down by webbing up his legs. The Hulk's rage only made his body hotter, burning the young heroine to point where she had to let go. The Hulk easily ripped through the webbing before bringing a fist down on the arachnid themed-hero, but his target evaded with a leap backwards, shooting webbing into the Hulk's eyes mid-leap.

The grey-skinned goliath tore the webbing from his eyes just in time to see Cap's shield strike him between the eyes, clearly indicating that he and Thor had gotten back into the fight. While he was somewhat disoriented, the thunder goddess blasted him the chest, making him cry out in agony. Hulk reached out and took hold of a nearby tree, he then ripped it from the ground and swung it at Thor, hitting her and Vision into the air. Captain America attempted to flew up and rescue them, but the gamma-powered brute reached out and snatched him up by his torso before slamming him back into the ground, leaving a small crater upon hitting the dirt.

"Why didn't you listen to Hulk's other?" the beast demanded as he approached the three young heroes "Hulk not want to fight, but costumed people make Hulk mad!"

"We didn't want it to be this way!" Spider-Man replied as he, Ms. Marvel and Nova prepared for another round "You deserved to be left alone!"

"Hulk not care what bug-man say!" Hulk said sharply "Now Hulk smash you all!"

"The only one who's gonna be doing any smashing around here, Hulk…" a familiar voice informed Hulk from behind him "Is me!"

The Hulk whirled around to see only a huge red and yellow fist collide with his jaw, sending him rocketing into the Mystery Shack. After being punched, Tony activated his armor's Hulkbuster mode in order to face the radioactive monster head-on. As the Hulk staggered back to his feet among the rubble of the of upper half of what was once the Mystery Shack, Iron Man turned his attention to the team's youngest members.

"Miles, once I get the Hulk's attention I want you to get on the people inside that building" he ordered "Sam, you fly out and try to find where Thor and Vision landed. Kamala, you check on Cap"

"I'm on it!" Nova answered before launching off into the sky

As Hulk got back to his feet, the heat in his body was growing stronger. Cracks along his arms and legs began to form as more steam spewed from the new openings on his body. His rage was building up within him and it was giving him new found strength that was driving the monster to want to kill Iron Man for attacking his beloved Wendy. With a hate-filled roar, he charged at Stark once more and punched him upwards into the sky before leaping after him, not wanting to let the Avenger get out of his line of sight. Once they were gone, Miles and Kamala set out to fulfill their respective objectives.

* * *

The first thing the people of Gravity Falls heard was a high-pitched whistling sound, like a bomb was being dropped on the town. That assumption wasn't far from the truth as a large metal object came screaming down from the skies above before crashing into the center of town with force that shook Gravity Falls to its core. Before anyone could approach the crater left from whatever had crash landed, what looked like a giant robot stood up inside the crater. It was then that the townspeople realized that it was in fact Iron Man, and there was only one reason why Tony Stark would be here.

Just as expected, the Hulk came roaring down from above before landing atop of his adversary. He pinned Stark under his feet and began to pound his fist on the suit of armor, but with every blow, Tony's armor rebuilt itself instantly. Rather then back off, Hulk continued to slam his fists on his enemy. The force of his blows shook the town like a series of small earthquakes. The cracks on his skin grew longer and wider as more steam sprayed from the opening. But the Hulk ignored the growing radiation inside him; all he wanted was Stark dead!

"Hulk Smash You!" he exclaimed furiously as pounded on the suit of armor "Hulk Smash You To Death!"

For one brief moment, Hulk glanced away from Iron Man to see the townspeople running and screaming in a panicked mass. They were scared—scared of _him_. The Hulk wanted to protect them, not make them fear him. He stopped his assault on Stark as he saw the fear in the people's eyes, all of it directed at him. It was because of that brief pause that Iron Man raised his hand out and fired a repulseor blast in the Hulk's face, knocking him out of the crater and onto his back. Stark flew out of the crater and dropped his fist down on the gamma-powered giant's head.

Hulk kicked him off his person and attempted to leap away, not wanting to cause anymore damage to the town than he already had. But Iron Man fired flew up and tackled him out of the sky, causing them both to crash into a building. Thankfully, the civilians who were hiding within the structure managed to bolt out of there before the whole building came down on them. The Hulk grabbed a handful of debris and smashed it over Iron Man's head before punching him out of the rubble.

Hulk leapt at Iron Man only to be blasted back by another intense repulseor blast to the chest. The gamma-powered goliath quickly ripped out a lamppost and smacked Stark into another building. Seeing his chance to escape and try to cool down, the Hulk attempted to jump away from the town, only to be blasted out of the air by Iron Man's uni-beam. Tony then rocketed out of the building and tackled the Hulk through several more buildings before getting punched off the Hulk's person.

The people of Gravity Falls where doing their best to stay out of the crossfire, but as the fight between the Hulk and Iron Man grew more intense; it was becoming harder and harder to find cover. A scenario like was always in the back of their minds, but they never thought it possible. The destruction on this scale was last caused by Bill's weirdmaggdon and if the Hulk didn't calm down soon, it was going to be much worse.

Hulk and Iron Man continued to punch another with devastating blows that were so strong they shook the very foundation of the town. At this point, the Hulk was to consumed by his own rage to notice anything else around him; only that he wanted—no he _needed—_ to kill Stark. The cracks in his flesh began to reach his chest as the radiation grew a bright orange color. Steam spewed from his body as his eyes became a soulless red. Tony had taken notice to the Hulk's change and was having his A.I, Friday, try to figure out was going on.

"There's a massive Gamma build-up inside the Hulk!" the armor's A.I said "If you don't stop him now, he's gonna blow!"

"I'm open to suggestion!" Stark replied as he tried to stay focused on the fight

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky before striking the Hulk, making him cry out in agony. Tony had managed to move out of the way at the last minute before the bolt came down. he looked up to see Thor, Vision and Nova floating down the ground with Thor holding her hammer in the air to continue to summon more lightning on the Hulk.

"Uh, anyone else getting a Godzilla vs. Destroyah vibe here?" Nova commented as he looked over the Hulk's new form

"The gamma radiation in his body is building up" Iron Man answered "We have to get him out of here before he has a meltdown!"

"Well can't we just fly him out of here?" the young Avenger questioned

"I'm afraid the fallout from the radiation would be wide-spread regardless where we move the Hulk" Vision informed them

As the Hulk was pinned down from the continuous lightning, he looked once again at the frightened people all around him. The fight had driven him away from what had truly mattered to him. His body was going critical and though he could survive the blast, the town and its occupants would not. There was no where he could go in the amount he had left that could keep those he protected safe from the explosion. He then looked up into the sky and something amazing happened: The Hulk had an idea.

"Take Hulk up there!" he called out to the Avengers, pointing up to the sky as he did

The heroes where shocked by this, but as the rate of the Gamma build-up in his body, they didn't have time to be amazed by this. Acting quickly, Thor ceased her attack before flying over to Hulk and grabbed around his torso. She then flew upwards into the sky, flying faster then she ever had before. The cracks in the Hulk's skin began to glow brighter, indicating that he was only moments from his meltdown.

The thunder goddess flew higher and higher until she and her passenger where well into the earth's atmosphere. With all her might, she threw the Hulk as far as she could from herself. As she watched the Hulk float away into the coldness of space, she saw him mouth the words 'thank you' to her. Thor was stunned by the gesture, this was the same monster who had just been beating her senseless only a few hours ago. She gave the monster a nod in thoughtful understanding before flying back down to earth.

Moments after Thor returned to her team, Ms. Marvel and Captain America rejoined the group as well, though Spider-Man was still held back by his objective at the gift shop. Just as they did, the sky ignited up in a bright array of green and orange. The people of Gravity Falls looked up at the flash of radioactive colors with sorrow in their hearts, thinking that this was the final act of bravery from their guardian. Among the mourners were Ford Stan, who had just arrived only to see there grand-nephew be thrown into space and left to die.

"He…he can survive that, can't he?" Stan asked his brother weakly "that thing inside him can keep him alive, right?"

"I…don't know" his sibling admitted "the Extremis can heal its host from almost anything, but he was thrown into space and I don't know if it can keep him alive from reentry"

Stan felt like he had been hit in the gut. He had just lost his other grandchild and again, he wasn't there for him or even able to say goodbye. He had a small prayer in the back of head that the Extremis kept him alive, but the cynical side of him told him otherwise. He fell to his knees in a broken heap of a man as he began to weep. Ford tried his best to hold himself together, but he was failing miserably. He and Mason hadn't seen eye to eye lately, but he still loved the boy regardless and to see him possibly die in front of him.

Meanwhile, the Avengers had witnessed what happened and gather themselves after seeing the new Hulk sacrifice , Kamala wasn't feeling remorse, she was feeling angry.

"Well are you proud of yourself, Tony?" she asked sharply "We just murdered that guy!"

"He would've killed a lot of people if didn't stop him" Iron Man replied

"It wouldn't have to end like this if you hadn't pist him off!" Nova snapped

"Stand down, both of you!" Sam ordered

"No!" Ms. Marvel shot back with angry tears in her eyes "we should've just left him alone! He was happy here! These people loved him and we killed him just like Carol had Banner killed!"

As the argument among the Avengers grew greater, the sensors in Tony's armor suddenly picked an unidentified Gamma signature closing on their position at break-neck speed. There was no way that it was Hulk, it was moving way to fast to be him and by what his sensors were telling him, it was flying.

"Heads up, we've got company!" he said to his fellow Avengers

Now sooner had he said that, a huge winged figured flew down from the sky. It was tall, green humanoid like bird-woman, and judging by the look of venom she was giving the team, she didn't come in peace. The Avengers prepared themselves for another fight with a radioactive monster.

"Seriously, how many Hulks does this town have?" Nova questioned

* * *

Mason was certain he was dead.

After he allowed the Hulk to take over, he could feel his other half's body erupt from the Gamma build-up in his body. He didn't know where he had exploded, but he did know that the last the Hulk blew up he has back in control. However this time was time, this time Mason found himself standing in an empty black void. At first he thought he was in space, but there wasn't the slightest sight of stars or anything else to indicate that he was drift among the stars. He was simply surrounded by what he could only assume was the utter blackness of death.

Just then, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching him. At first he thought he was about to meet the grim reaper himself, but instead found himself standing face to face with someone he never thought he'd have a personal meeting with.

"It's about time you and me had a little chat" the Hulk told him


	8. This Man,This Monster

Chapter Eight: This Man, This Monster

Mason was in a state of shock. He was standing before the Hulk— _his_ Hulk! If Dipper wasn't certain that he was dead before, he was now. The grey-skinned goliath was vastly differently then before, and it wasn't just because he was suddenly able to speak clearly either. He stood straight up with his arms crossed and looked down at his other half with an expression that wasn't one of contempt, but wasn't exactly a soft expression either. Dipper's mind was reeling as to how this was even possible, it was all like this was some sort of dream, or that he truly was dead and this thing before him was the living embodiment of his sins that have come to haunt him.

"What…how is this even possible?" he asked in bewilderment

"Relax, you ain't dead" the Hulk assured before muttering "at least not yet"

"How are you able to do all this?" Mason questioned "and how are you able to talk so clearly?"

"I'm not doing anything" the giant informed him "Where in your mind, or should I say our mind. And in here, I can do anything I wanna do"

With all the things Dipper had witnessed in the dreamscape in his first encounter with Bill, he could accept that reason. Technically speaking, he and the Hulk shared the same mind, so it was possible that they could meet like this, but question as too how was still hanging in the air.

"We fell back to earth after our Gamma build-up" the Hulked explained further "I don't know where we landed though"

"Am I—are we—still alive?" Dipper questioned further

"If we were dead we wouldn't be chatting right now, would we?" his monstrous alter-ego pointed out sharply

"Then what is this all about?" the teen demanded

"Like I said, we need to have a little talk" the brute answered

"What could we possible talk about?" Mason snorted

"Your past" Hulk informed him "and our future"

Mason had no idea what his other half meant by that. What could the teen's past means for the both of them in the future? Suddenly, the meeting of the Hulk's words struck him like a bolt of lightening. He was referring to first day he became the Hulk, the day he lost everything. Granted, there were still gaps in his memories as to what happened that day, but he'd rather not live through that event again.

"No…" Mason gasped in horror "You can't…not that"

"I'm sorry, but I gotta do it" the Hulk apologized "If we're ever going to be able to work together, then you have to come to terms with my birth"

"But I can't fully remember what happened that day!" Dipper shot back

"But I do" Hulk replied "and if you're ever going to really trust me, then I have to show you what happen"

With that, the black void around them slowly began to away as a bright light over took the two personas, making them fade away as the light consumed them both.

* * *

Mason wanted to die.

Every night before being strapped don onto the operating table to try to sleep for the night, he said a small prayer in his head to ask God to kill him. The Pines family wasn't necessarily religious by any means, but after seeing all the things he had come across in Gravity Falls, he accepted that maybe there was a higher power out there somewhere. But if there was all-powerful deity watching everything, it must be ignoring him and his sister, for all his prayers for death went unanswered. Did he do something to anger this unseen being? Or did entity merely look at Mason and his sister as something to play with by tormenting them like any at the mercy of an eyeglass?

His body was wracked with pain, he had just been exposed another bath of Gamma radiation. Dipper was always confused as to how was able to survive the amount of radioactivity he was being exposed to, although on the hand, he didn't really care as to how he was still alive when all he wished was to die. His parents spoke to him less and less with each session he had to be either sent to what they called 'the Gamma room' for another radiation bathe or when they injected more serums and cut open to have his inside be examined for any sign of progress.

When he wasn't thinking about wanting to die, Dipper thought about Mabel. Since that one day time her heard her cries for him, he hadn't been able to find her in the facility. Mason missed his sister, he missed her laugh, her smile, everything. But the more agony he was put through, the less and less his mind could picture any images he had of all the good times he had with his sister.

Suddenly, he heard a scream from down the hall. It was the scream of his sister, and by the sound of it, she was dying. This was first time he had heard the sound of Mabel's voice in weeks and now all he could hear was the sound of her writhing in agony. Mason wanted to help her—he wanted to save and get as far as we could from this place and back to somewhere safe, namely Gravity Falls. He struggled to break free of his restraints as the screams of torment grew louder with every passing moment.

Rage boiled in Mason's blood as it surged through his body like a firestorm. All he could think about was saving Mabel and ripping part every Hydra agent that stood in his way with his bare hands—especially his parents. He let out a deep growl in anger as he tugged furiously on the bounds holding him down, trying to snap them. His heart raced faster than it had ever beaten before as the fury welling up inside of him took more and more control of his body. Mason let himself fall into the rage, let overtake him, thinking that maybe he had enough hate in his heart to give him the strength needed to save him twin sibling what whatever horrors their parents were subjecting her to.

Unfortunately, Mason's actions caught the attention of the guards that were stationed outside of the room. The two guards rush into the room with electrified batons in hand.

"Cut that shit out!" one of the Hydra agents ordered before jabbing the boy in chest with his baton

The pain only added to the rage that building inside of him. His heart began to pound like a hammer in his chest, like it was going to explode at any given moment. He started to feel he was slipping away, but it wasn't as if he was dieing; this was something else entirely. It was something was awakening within himself that had lain dormant for so long. When one of the guards attempted to take another jab at him with his baton, Mason suddenly ripped his one of his arms out of the restrain and grabbed Hydra agent's wrist before flinging him across the room.

Dipper's eye color became a bright red as he finally felt himself slip into darkness and let something else take control—something monstrous. The two agents of Hydra watched terrified awe as the boy began to change. His skin became a dark grey as his body expanded with massive muscles to the point he tore away from the remaining restrains that were holding him down. The newly birthed monster looked down at the two men had harmed its other half with rage and disdain its eyes.

"Smash you!" the monster exclaimed

Before either Hydra agent could let out a scream, the beast slammed his fists down on them, killing them both with a single blow. After murdering the two men, the monster paused for a moment to process what he had just done. He had just come into existence only minutes ago and its first act was murder? Was this what he was made to do? Did he even have a name? So many questions swirled around in the grey-skinned giant's head like a torrent angry winds.

Before the brute could ponder these questions, he heard the blaring sound of an alarm. The giant effortlessly smashed through the wall and into the hallway of the facility, where he was greeted by several heavily armed Hydra's agents running down the hall to face the newborn creature. The opened fire with their assault rifles, but the bullets merely bounced off of the monster's thick skin. The rage-fueled beast let out a furious roar before lunging at the soldiers. He crushed one under his foot while he pounded the other three into a mass of bloody paste.

The monster had only been in existence for less then an hour now and so far it was met with violence at every turn. As the beast moved further down the halls, he heard the sound of a voice over the intercom.

"Attention all units! Subject seven has escaped! Use of Thor-level ordnance has been authorized!" the voice commanded

The beast continued to tear his way down the halls of the secret lab, killing every agent of Hydra he came across. As he made further into the lab, another squad of soldiers marched out to stop him. However, these agents weren't carrying ordinary machine guns as the others had; these men instead were carrying much larger weapons then the ones before and the barrels of the guns were more narrow and horizontal in shape. The monster didn't think much of the weapons, merely shrugging them as more puny guns.

The Hydra agents pulled the trigger on their guns and unleashed waves of sonic blasts, knocking the monster backwards by a few feet. The soldiers poured on the sonic blasts and continued to hold the grey-skinned creature down. The monster couldn't move—he couldn't even think! It was in to much pain to do anything. The grey-skinned goliath's knees buckled from the high-pitched screeching rattling in its brain. As the monster was held down by the unending ends of sound, other Hydra troops rushed in carrying long metal staffs that were electrically charged. The creature's other half had already experienced pain from these weapons like these and refused to suffer like he did.

The rage built up inside the monster like a storm, causing steam to rise from body as his skin began to heat up at an accelerated rate. With all his strength, the grey-skinned goliath outstretched his hands apart before bringing them together. The force of the clap sent a powerful shockwave that beat back to the sonic blasts of the guns and sent the Hydra troops flying backwards into a wall with the force of a being flung from a car crash. They turned into a mess of blood and gore when they slammed into the wall.

Even though its attackers were gone, the heat from the giant's body still continued to radiate from the goliath's skin. Just then, the monster heard the sound of some weeping in a nearby room. The beast was hesitant to follow the sound at first, thinking it could be another trap. But the weeping made monster feel a sort of familiarity with him, as if he had some connection to the person crying. The grey-skinned behemoth followed the sound of crying until it managed to trace the cries to room it was coming from.

The brute easily tore down the walls and found a sight that shook the giant to his very core. Lying on a metal slab in the center of the room was a young girl gone through a transformation of her own, only this one was more horrific. Parts of the girl's body had become enlarged by sickly tumors and covered in greenish scales. Her left arm had grown twice its normal length and looked almost reptilian and had grown long claws. The right of the girl's had also become reptilian while the teeth on that side of her face had grown into fangs. Her right eye had become yellow and snake-like. The monster felt only a deep sadness for this child; like it knew this girl all along and that it had failed her.

The girl could only look back at the creature, if she was scared of him; she showed no sign of it due to the sheer amount of pain she was in. Shockingly, she reached out with her still human hand to the monster and weakly beckoned for it to come closer.

"Please…" she begged in a gargled voice "I…I don't want to die alone…"

The beast lumbered toward the girl until it was at her side. The girl's breathing was slow and ragged, indicating that she didn't have much time left in this world. The girl reached upward to try and touch the monster, but she couldn't reach. Instead, the grey-skinned brute reached down a tenderly touched her hand with one of his massive fingers. The girl gave the creature a weak smile up at it, to which the beast couldn't help but smile back.

"Mabel…" the monster found itself saying to her

The young girl's eyes widen slightly in surprise before softening again and smiling brightly.

"Dipper…" she rasped with a ragged chuckle "You look great"

The monster assumed that she was talking about its other half, but said nothing to correct her.

"I'm…I'm glad I got t-to see y-you again…" Mabel choked out in-between her labored breaths "T-they told me…that you d-died"

The beast leaned down to allow the girl to touch his face. Mabel's breathing become slower and slower with each passing second; she was fading fast at this point.

"I…I love…I love…." She tried to choke out

With one last breath, the light in her eyes darkened as her hand fell flatly from the monster's face. She was gone and despite the monster's mighty strength he knew that he couldn't bring this girl back from the dead. He had killed many men in the short amount of time on this earth, but seeing his other half's sister die in front of him in such pain made the monster feel an indescribable amount rage and sadness. His fists clenched as the anger boiled in its body as the steam poured out of cracks on his skin that were forming rapidly.

"Well look at you" a voice said from behind him

The monster turned around to see a man and woman standing behind it. Even though the beast and never met these two people before, he felt a surge of fury course through his veins with just laying eyes on him.

"Finally, our real son is born" the woman began "Our Hulk has come home"

"Hulk?" the monster repeated "is that my name?"

"Oh yes, son" the man answered "it's good to finally meet you"

The woman then approached the newly named monster and began to inspect him closely. She would've gotten closer if the Hulk hadn't let out a growl to tell her to stay back. She looked over the cracks that forming on his skin and the steam they were emitting from them.

"Hmm…there seems to be a gamma-build up" she commented "But we can fix that once we put through some reduction"

"And cut out his human side" the man mentioned "He doesn't need it. Mason was only a cocoon for our son. A sheath for Hydra's new sword"

The Hulk didn't know why these people called him their son, but didn't want to have any relation to them. The grey-skinned goliath then looked over to Mabel's lifeless body with sorrow in his heart. The two Hydra agents only glanced at the corpse with a look of cold indifference in their eyes.

"Ah yes, that" the woman spat in degust "the brat could barley handle all the Gamma-radiation we were giving her—which was much less then we were giving you—and she came out a total disappointment"

"And she had such great potential to" the man added "But it looks like it was a total waste with that one"

"I told we should've gotten ride of her when she was born" the female agent replied to her husband "she grew up to be such a freak—how could she ever be our true child?"

It was those words that made the Hulk snap. With a furious roar at the two Hydra agents, he raised his fists over his head as he glared down them with pure rage in his eyes.

" **HULK SMASH!** " he exclaimed

Rather than try to run from the monster, the two deranged Hydra agents merely closed their eyes and held out their arms, graciously accepting their fate with smiles on their faces. Hulk slammed his fists down on them and continued to pound on their already dead bodies. As he repeatedly slammed his fists over and over on the heaps of gore that was formally his other half's parents, the cracks on his skin grew in size as the rage took over every thought in his head. He didn't care that they were already dead; he just wanted to keep hitting them until they were nothing more to him. With each strike of his fists, the Hydra base shook violently, knocking it off its very foundation with every hit.

The remaining Hydra troops ran their lives as the base began to come apart all around them. Many were crushed by falling debris from the destruction at the Hulk's hands. Any who were trapped were left behind to die while those who could make their escape ran blindly for any exit they could find. The Hulk kept pounding away on the mangled corpses of the two who had enraged him so, he didn't care about the burning in his chest, nor the base that he was bringing down on himself, all he cared about the last words they said about the girl who had some him such brief kindness in his short time of existence.

Suddenly, everything became enveloped in a sea of green….

* * *

The rising morning sunlight shined down on a massive crater that was once the Hydra base. Hours before the sun rose up over the horizon, the entire complex that was hidden among forests of northern California. Now where a sea of trees once stood there was a huge smoldering crater that stuck out like an opened wound. Where one would think they find only death, there was still one life that stood among the chaos. Mason groaned as he weakly pulled himself out of the rubble he was buried under. His mind was spinning, what had his parents turned him into? No, he knew what he become, he just admit to himself what he was now. Mason's clothing was burned off during the explosion that his new monstrous self had caused and his now naked body was covered with shoot and ash.

The ashes of his sister…

Mason may have not been himself when it happened, but knew that his other half had killed his twin sibling. But he knew that even if the explosion hadn't happened then she would've died regardless. He began to weep at his sister's death and cursed himself for not even being able to be there in her final moments. Not he was alone and been turned into a monster. There was nothing he could do; nowhere he could go that would take him in. Just then a thought came to his mind: maybe there was a place he could stay.

* * *

The images of the past slowly faded before Dipper, leaving visibly shaken by what he had witnessed. He looked up at the Hulk, who was also saddened by reliving the events over again. The teen looked up his monstrous alter-ego with expression of remorse on his face. He wasn't angry with the Hulk, only left feeling remorseful.

"Why…" he asked weakly "why did you show me that?"

"Like I said, if we're really going to be able to work together, then I had to show you that" Hulk explained "After all, you still blame me for what happened to Mabel"

"I don't blame y—"Mason attempted to say

"Yeah you do" the grey-skinned giant interrupted sharply "you keep saying that you don't fear me, but the truth is you despise me!"

Mason looked away in shame. The Hulk was right, now matter what he said to everyone around him, he hated what he had become and thought if he hadn't turned into the monster, than maybe he could've thought of way to save Mabel and escape together on his own. But he knew that even if didn't transform that his sister would've died regardless and just took his anger out the Hulk and himself in secret.

"The Gamma build-up, the reason I'm so dumb when you let me out, it's all because of you" the Hulk coldly informed him "you've been keeping me on a leash from day one and I'm tired of it!"

"So what are you going to do?" Mason demanded "kill me and take control"

"No" his inner monster answered "I want you to trust me"

"And why should I?" Dipper questioned suspiciously

"Because I'm not just some thing made from Gamma-radiation and a freaky virus" the goliath replied "I'm you"

The teen was taken aback for that statement. He and the Hulk may have shared a body, but he always thought of himself as two separate personas.

"I'm everything you've dreamed of being your whole life. I was born from your ambitions, your secret desires. Everything you envied others kids your age of being is what I'm made of, the Gamma-radiation just gave me the push out of your mind and into being" the Hulk elaborated "So if you deny me, then you're only denying yourself!"

The grey-skinned goliath then held out his hand for a handshake to the teen.

"Please, just trust me" he asked softly "It's what Mabel would've wanted"

Dipper was still hesitant, but he was right. Mabel would've hated to see him literally tearing himself apart and would've tried to help to find a way to get the two sides to find peace. Besides, Gravity Falls still needed him—his family still needed him, and if joining with his other half would help him do that, then so be it. With that, Mason took the Hulk's hand with his hand and shook it. As they shook hands, a nagging question escaped the young hero's mouth.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he asked the monster "you were causing the change that night?"

"Yeah, about that…" the brute began "it was by accident I swear. I was trying to get in touch with you in your dreams, but well…y'a know"

"Well I hope this future partnership won't have any midnight transformations" Dipper half-joked

"Scout's honor, chief" the Hulk assured with a salute

The two different personas shared a laugh at that small joke. As they laugh, another bright light began to consume them. Neither one cared about the light around them and continued to just keep laughing.

* * *

Dipper's eyes snapped open as he shot up from the ground he was lying on. He was back on earth like the Hulk had said they did, but no idea as to where he had made landfall. He looked at himself to see the skin that had been scorched during the fall was regenerating back to normal at a rapid pace thanks to the Extremis virus. As he slowly rose to his feet, the teen noticed that every article of his clothing had been burned off like before, once again leaving him as naked as the day he was born. He took at his surroundings and saw that he in someone's backyard.

"Holy Shit!" a voice cried out cried out in horror

Dipper turned to his side to see a group of friends looking back at him with a look of shock and horror on their faces. He didn't blame them for being scared; he would be a bit on edge to if some badly burned, naked guy from outer space just crash landed into their backyard. He noticed that several of the girls and one of the men in the group where looking below his waistline while the rest were looking straight him and were about to call the cops.

"Uh…hi?" Mason greeted sheepishly "Can any of you guys tell me where I am?"

"T-Tigard" one of the men stammered out "Tigard, Oregon"

"Good, I'm still in Oregon" Mason said to himself before asking "Hey, can any of you point me in the direction of Gravity Falls?"

"Uh yeah, it's a hundred miles south of here" a girl slowly spoke up, still stunned by all this

"Awesome, thanks guys" the teen thanked before adding on "by the way, is anyone here a size twenty?"

"I got you, space man" a young man wearing a beanie answered before removing his jeans, clearly loving every second of this whole ordeal

The young man then tossed them to Dipper who quickly put them on. After thanking the still stunned friends once again, he began to walk away.

"Um, do you need a ride?" another girl found herself asking

"Nay its cool" Dipper replied as he continued to walk away "I've got my own ride"

With every step, the teen who had fallen back to earth began to transform into his monstrous self before leaping away and leaving the group of party-goers competely dumbfounded. He felt like both a new man and monster, like he was born again into something new and he was ready to show the Avengers—show the world—that this Hulk meant business.


	9. I, Hulk

Chapter Nine: I, Hulk

Wendy groaned as her vision returned her. She had no idea as to how long she was out, the last thing she remembered was being struck by one of Ironman's repulsor blasts before blacking out. She let out a hiss of pain as she clutched her side before noticing her new surroundings. She was in Ford's old lab, and she wasn't alone. Soos, his grandmother, Melody and Waddles were also within the old lab, and it was it clear that something gone terribly wrong between Dipper and the Avengers.

"Wendy, oh thank god you're ok!" Soos said after he noticed that she was awake

"I think 'Ok' is kinda a subjective right now" the redhead said as she winced at the pain in her side "What happened?"

"Dipper Hulked-out after Ironman attacked you and went nuts on the Avengers" Melody informed her "We came down here before they tore down the Mystery Shack"

"The Mystery Shack's gone?" the Lumberjack girl asked, stunned before looking at Soos "I'm sorry, Soos"

"It's ok, dudes" he assured his friend "nothing a little elbow grease and loan from the bank can't fix"

Despite his words, Wendy knew that the this was handyman's dream to oversee the gift shop. To have destroyed so shortly into his ownership of the building must've destroyed the man on the inside. She couldn't help but feel responsible for this tragedy. If she hadn't charged out of the Shack, then Ironman wouldn't have attacked her, thus causing her lover to unleash his inner beast. Not only that, this had become a home for Soos and his family and the so-called heroes had just robbed them of that.

Just then, the roof above them began to be cleared away as someone from above moved the debris away from the lab to pull them out of their shelter. At first they thought it was the Hulk trying to rescue them, but instead it was someone vastly different from the town's defender. It was Spider-man who had been pushing away the rubble of the destroyed gift shop.

"Is anyone hurt down there?" the wall-crawler called down to them

"Yeah, no thanks to you and your friends!" Wendy shot back

"I'm sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen" Spider-Man apologized before jumping down to them

"And how else was this supposed to go down?" the ginger questioned sharply "You assholes forced my boyfriend into a fight and then you attacked me for trying to help!"

"Stark and the other older Avengers have been…off-center since the war broke out between Tony and Captain Marvel" the young hero attempted to explain

"Save your excuses, because I could hardly give a single shit why you super-jackasses are fighting each other again" Wendy scolded "the only thing that matters is that you get me to the Hulk right now before he and your friends destroy the town!"

At first Miles wanted to tell the girl it was too dangerous to attempt to try to intervene at the moment, but he had a feeling that if he said anything she'd ignore him and go there herself. Besides, the teenager may be able to calm this Hulk just like Betty Ross once did for Banner's inner monster. So, with a nod of understanding, Miles took hold of her before shooting a web-line to the nearest tree and swinging toward town, completely unaware of the new monster that had arrived there.

* * *

Things could be going better for Tony and the rest of the Avengers right now.

After throwing the new Hulk into space, a new gamma-powered creature arrived on the scene. The Avengers readied themselves for another fight, but honestly though, they were still reeling from their battle with the Hulk that only just ended moments ago. While Thor, Vision and Tony could keep going, Kamala and Nova were still young and looked beat as it is—even Sam appeared to look exhausted as well. Ironman would've ordered for the rest of the team to fall back to Miles's position and let him, Thor and Vision take on this gamma-powered bird woman, but if this woman was as strong as the new Hulk was, then they would need all the help they could get.

The very sight of the monster reminded the inventor of another time he heard of such a thing happing. He remembered a time when Bruce told him about the time that his wife, Betty, was transformed into a similar monster by MODOK, making the armored avenger begin to think that either him or another one of Banner's old enemies was behind this creature as well as possibly being responsible for making the new Hulk as well. He was about to question the mutated girl who gave her new form, but decided against it, considering the fact she appeared to be less then corporative at the moment.

"Where is he?" the Harpy snarled "Where is Mason Pines?"

"Uh, who now?" Cap asked absent mindedly

"She's talking about the Hulk" Kamala informed him sharply "you know, that guy who you antagonized into transforming and picking a fight with before you threw him into space"

"Oh right, him" her leader replied before looking at the Harpy "Sorry lady, but your buddy is currently floating in earth's orbit right now"

A brief look of sadness came across her face before morphing into one of pure fury.

"You robbed me of my revenge!" she roared "I became this thing to kill the Hulk and your stole that chance from me!"

The Avengers collectively tensed up, knowing what was going to happen next. The Harpy's wings unfurled outwards out of anger as her fists began to glow orange with plasma energy. She unleashed a shrill, furious cry, bearing her fangs to the superheroes as she did. The gamma radiation that was coming from the monstrous woman made the scanners in Tony's suit began to rise up to the point until it was on par with the grey Hulk's radiation levels.

"I can't have my revenge on the Hulk, I settle for killing you all instead!" the Harpy proclaimed in rage

"Yeah, I was afraid you'd say that" Ironman said

While this standoff was taking place, Stan, who was hiding behind some rubble alongside his brother, finally recognized the bird woman.

"Holy crap, I think that's Pacifica!" he stated in surprise

"Are you sure, Stanly?" Ford questioned "how could she even be able to become that thing?"

"Beats me" this twin said bluntly "all I know is that if the Avengers don't stop her, then we're screwed!"

Another shrill bird-like cry that split into everyone's skull erupted from the Harpy's mouth, like a furious eagle ready for a fight. Before any of the heroes could react, the now gamma-powered Pacifica launched herself forward at the Avengers, tackling Thor in the process. She then began to fly upwards, slashing at the thunder goddess all the while they climbed higher and higher into the air. Finally, Thor managed to knock her attacker of her person with a swing of her hammer across the bird woman's face. The radioactive monster retaliated by delivering a devastating punch to the goddess's torso, knocking her back down to the earth.

Nova, Cap, Vision and Tony flew after the winged monster. Pacifica hissed at her oncoming opponents as they flew towards her. The Harpy's hands began to surge with a bright orange glow, making the other Avengers slow down their race toward her in doing so. Suddenly, she unleashed a massive of blast of orange energy from her talons directly at the team of heroes that where racing toward her. while most of the Avengers managed to evade the beam, it did however, strike Vision dead-on, sending him straight back into the ground.

Sam hurled his shield at his opponent's left temple, which merely annoyed the bird woman rather than harm her. Before the shield could return to its owner hand, Pacifica snatched the shield mid-air and hurled with all her strength down toward Thor, hitting her in the back with the force of a missile. Nova flew in and began to deliver a series of punches that would've reduced a tank to scrap metal. But Nova wasn't fighting a tank, he was fighting a gamma-powered monster, a monster that felt the blows she was taking as if she was getting stung by a bee. The Harpy grabbed the young hero's arm and proceeded to twist it until it broke before hurling him into Captain America, causing them both to crash-land into the ruins of a building below them.

Before Pacifica could think to herself about how easy this was, a huge metal fist struck her across the face, sending her tumbling down back towards the earth before she could correct herself in mid-air. With a rage-filled screech, she flew up towards Ironman at a break-neck speed. Before Stark's scanners could even register her speed, the Harpy's was right in front him. she began to slash madly at her armored enemy, cutting deeply into Tony's suit faster than it could repair itself. Tony finally managed to push away the girl from his person before blasting her in the face with a repulsor blast and sent her crashing into Blubbs and Durland's police car.

The combined blast from the repuslor blast and the impact with the car did little to slow the Harpy down. She quickly pulled herself from the wreckage of the vehicle and readied herself for another round. The Avengers however, were not as energetic as she was for another battle, for they were all collectively wounded and exhausted from their fights with two different kinds of Hulks.

"Does anyone have an idea?" Ms. Marvel asked

"Running sounds like a good one" Nova commented

"We're not running" Sam said "we're Avengers, and we do not retreat!"

"No one is going anywhere!" Pacifica proclaimed "No one is this god forsaken town is leaving here alive!"

Back with Stand and Ford, the twin siblings were still trying to wrap their heads around how the heir to the once great Northwest fortune became empowered by Gamma radiation. It was highly unlikely that Hydra somehow captured her and managed to dose her with enough radiation to change her into a monster in the span of under two days. The only thing that seemed logical was that she had been given her new powers by someone who had access to gamma radiation, but that begged the question: who was she working with? That should be an easy question to answer, but in a world where actual gods and monsters exist, it was too hard to say who exactly was the one behind Pacifica's transformation.

"Uh, do we have a plan to stop her?" Stan asked

"I…don't know" Ford admitted "one of the containment cells back in the mansion may be able to hold her, but I have no idea how do get her there"

"And I doubt those super-freaks would be willing to help us" his brother noted

"Don't be so sure on that" a voice replied

The twins turned around to see Spider-Man, who was carrying Wendy, land before them and set the girl down on the ground. Neither of the Pines brothers where pleased to see the young hero, but if they were to stop Pacifica from massacring the entire town, they'd need all the help they could get. Both Wendy and Spider-Man were surprised to see the Avengers facing off with a winged monster instead a grey-skinned one, but it was clear that an explanation could wait until after the Harpy was taken down.

"You think you could get Stark and your buddies to help us out?" Stan asked

"If I can make it so that Tony thinks it was his idea" the wall-crawler answered

"Wait, where's Dipper?" Wendy spoke up in confusion

The twin sibling's faces became sullen, making the teen's heart sink in the process. She already knew what had happened from just the expressions on their faces. Wendy's eyes began to water; she couldn't bear the thought of her lover being gone from this earth. She began to weep for the loss of her boyfriend and his monstrous alter-ego that she cared for. Stan found himself gently putting his arms his former employee in comforting embrace, letting her weep into his shoulder. It was at that moment that the loss of his grand-nephew began to fully set in. He could only watch in helplessly as Mason was slain by the Avengers. aside from his brother, Stan was alone in the world. Soon enough, the old con-artist, who always claimed that he had a heart made of stone, began to cry for his fallen grand-nephew as well.

As they two wept, the ground underneath their feet shook slightly, like a small tremor had occurred. At first, everyone in Gravity Falls thought nothing of it at first, thinking that it was some sort of aftershock of the battle between the Avengers and Pacifica. But then another, much stronger tremor, rocked the town, nearly knocking everyone off their balance in the process. While everyone, including the heroes and the monster they faced, were perplexed by this, Wendy, Stan and Ford had a sense of what—or rather who—was causing these tremors.

Suddenly, a massive figure fell from the sky with the force of a bomb, violently shaking the ground upon landing. Wendy, as well as the rest of the citizens of Gravity Falls, gazed in awe at the return of their protector. The Avengers were equally surprised by the monster's return as well, for they were certain they had seen the last of the gamma-powered brute. The Hulk looked at the current situation before him with surprise before giving his reaction.

"I'm gone a for a few hours and look what happens" he said to everyone's shock "Sheesh! I can't leave you guys alone for five seconds, can I?"

It wasn't just the Avengers and Harpy who were in a state of shock at the sight of the now suddenly intelligent Hulk, but also the people of Gravity Falls well. For the longest time, the grey-skinned beast was nothing more than a giant with a little mind, but her he was, speaking in complete sentences and thinking for himself. It was just what Dipper had warned them of before all this madness happened. As everyone was trying to process this sudden change, the Hulk made his way over to Wendy and the others, he backed up slightly at the sight of the brute. The gamma-powered monster then walked up to Wendy before taking a knee to be closer to her height.

"Easy babe, you got nothing to worry about" he assured her with a warm smile

"Dipper?" she asked hesitantly "Is that you?"

"Not exactly" the Hulk corrected "We'll explain everything after this mess is sorted out"

"But this doesn't make sense!" Spider-Man said "How can you be dumb one second and then be smart the next? And how did you survive— "

"Shut it, bug" Hulk cut him off as he punched him into a nearby wall

While this reunion was going on, Pacifica had lost her patience with being ignored by the creature she had sworn to kill.

"Hulk!" the Harpy screeched "Face me now!"

"Who's the bird-brain?" the grey-skinned goliath inquired

"It's Pacifica" Ford answered "we don't know how she was changed into…that"

"Uh-huh" the Hulk was all he said in understanding "Well don't worry, I got this"

"Wait, you can't!" Wendy begged "she's strong enough to hold off the Avengers, I think she may be stronger than you!"

"Ain't nobody stronger than me, babe" her monstrous lover confidently reminded her "Just stay back with Stan and Ford until I'm done"

With that, the Hulk made his way over to the mutated Pacifica, who was anxiously waiting for the chance to finally have her revenge. While the two monsters had completely forgot about the Avengers, the same could not be said about earth's mightiest heroes, who were more than ready to fight both monsters at once despite already receiving a beating from the respective creatures. However, one fierce glance from the Hulk made the war-weary heroes to stand down for the moment at least. Everyone waited with bated breath to see the two titans clash, but instead of make the first move, the Hulk instead spoke up.

"Who did this to you, Pacifica?" he asked calmly

"Oh if you only knew, Pines" she replied with a wicked smirk

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking" the grey giant furthered in a half-joking manner before becoming serious again "and why do this to yourself at all?"

"You know damn well why!" she snarled at him "I'm doing this Mabel!"

"I understand the pain you're going through" the fellow monster assured her "You think Mason doesn't grieve as well? You think _I_ don't grieve for losing Mabel? I'm apart of Mason, therefor she was my sister to"

The way the monster spoke made everyone pay direct attention to him. For a creature who was only regulated to only a few words such as 'Hulk smash!', he now spoke with such authority and yet still had grace to him.

"Mason says that he was there when Mabel died, and in a way, he was half-right" the Hulk continued "I was the one who found Mabel on her death bed. But despite the horrific pain she was in, the moment she saw me…all of that pain just went away"

The Harpy was visible shaken by what she was hearing, even her anger was slowly dying down.

"I don't want to fight you, Pacifica" the grey-skinned monster continued "You're one of the last things in this world that I—we, have to remind us of Mabel. If you want to kill me I won't stop you, but I want you to think hard on this: like you, I'm one of the last things that you have left to remind you of Pacifica. Would you destroy what you have left of the girl you loved?"

The whole world seemed to stand still in that moment. It was as if the very universe itself was waiting with bated breath to see what Pacifica would do next. Would she attack? Would she surrender? It was too hard to tell, the bird-woman's face was still locked into that of a look of rage. Suddenly, the Harpy unfurled her wings and launched herself into the air. When she was in mid-air, she looked back down at the Hulk before speaking.

"There's an abandoned factory on the edge town" she informed him "You'll find the answers your looking for there"

With those last few words, she flew higher into the sky until she disappeared into the clouds above. Thor and Captain America where about to give chase before the Hulk stepped in.

"Let her go" he commanded

"We can't just let her leave" Stark argued "She's— "

"A confused young girl who acted out of grief and needs to left alone to figure things out" the monster countered "something I'm sure your very familiar with, Stark"

Ironman didn't answer that, but instead he brought up another point.

"We need to find out who or what turned her into that thing" he said

"Agreed" the Hulk answered "and when this is over, you and your buddies are going to help me clean up the mess we made and then never come back"

"That's not our department to clean up the damages" Tony shrugged off

"We're helping, Tony" Ms. Marvel stated firmly "We owe him and these people that much"

The armored avenger looked at the collective glares and glowers of both his team and the townspeople and instantly knew that he wasn't going to get out this.

"Let's just get this over with" he finally relented

* * *

It didn't take long for Stark to detect a source of Gamma radiation on the outskirts of Gravity Falls. Hulk and the Avengers followed the radioactive trail to the factory Pacifica had told them about before she left. There appeared to be no form of security around the factory, so Hulk wasted no time in charging head on and tearing open a hole in the wall before anyone could stop him. As the heroes entered the factory, they discovered that whoever was here had left in a hurry. Lab equipment as well as a machine that was clearly used to transform Pacifica into her new monstrous form was left untouched since its recent use.

None of this made any sense to any of the superheroes, while it was very clear that someone was here and they had left after the creation of their new monster, none of the machines were destroyed or sabotaged to cover the person's tracks. It was as if whoever changed Pacifica into the Harpy wanted the Hulk and the Avengers to find this place. There were several suspects of course, Hydra, MODOK, even General Ross were more than capable of doing something like this.

Suddenly a holoimage materialized at the center of the room for all the heroes to see. The image was that of a tall, green skinned man wearing a black and orange suit, but what stood out the most to the group was that the man's head was twice the size of any normal human being. Upon seeing him, both the Hulk and the Avengers knew whose image this was. In a past life he was once a simple janitor named Samuel Sterns, but after being exposed to gamma-radiation, he became someone to fear.

The Leader.

"Well this is a surprise" the image began "I expected the Hulk to come here, but not alongside the Avengers as well"

"Friday, find the source of this signal" Tony ordered his armor's A.I

"You won't have any luck with that, Stark" Leader sneered "I'm covering the signal's trail with thousands of codes data. Even you're A.I would have to decipher all of it to figure out where I am, and by then I'd be far from there"

"Then why did you turn Pacifica into that monster?" the Hulk questioned

"Why, to kill you of course" the former Hulk's archenemy replied "but as I can see, that didn't go so well. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to think of some other way to kill you"

"Why even come after me?" the grey-skinned goliath demanded "your beefs with Banner, not me!"

"But Banner's gone!" the Leader snapped before shooting a glare at the Avengers "No thanks to the likes of you"

Ironman didn't get a chance to respond before the gamma-powered villain continued.

"Thanks to Stark and his friends, my revenge has been robbed from me!" Sterns snarled in a vexed voice "years of trying to kill my enemy with bombs, monsters and robots—and yet all it took was a single arrow to take away the victory over that brute that I've sought after for so long!"

The heroes knew that despite this mass intellect, Sterns was mentally unbalanced and more than often fixated on Banner's Hulk to the point of costing him a chance of world domination. The Leader always wanted to prove he was the green-skinned monster's superior, but after his arch-rival was slain by Hawkeye, there was no doubt that Sterns must have felt cheated of not being the one to end Banner's life.

"But imagine as to my surprise when I heard rumors of a new Hulk in the winds" he continued with a sort happiness in his voice

"So why me and not that other Hulk" the monster inquired, referring to Amadeus Cho

"Oh I have plans for him, don't worry about that, and She-Hulk to" the Leader replied "But I've got a good feeling about you. Like you're the true successor to Banner's legacy"

"I'm touched" the Hulk deadpanned

"As you should be, my boy" the Leader complimented "But this plan has been ruined, but not to worry, we'll see each other again soon"

With that, the image of the Leader switched off, leaving the Hulk as well as the Avengers in a state of shock.

"Don't worry Hulk, we'll find him" Tony assured him

"Sure you will, Stark" answered, his voice lanced in every word he said "But right now, let's just focus on fixing the town"

Rather than argue with the grey-skinned giant, the Avengers wordlessly agreed. However, while the Hulk retain a calm demeanor, on the inside both he and his other half dreaded the day the Leader would return. While Banner's friends and family could protect themselves, the same could not be said for Mason's family. True they were more than capable of handling themselves in dangerous situations, but The Leader was a mad genius with an army of monsters and machines at his command and a level of intellectual brutality that matched the Hulk's physical strength. Rather than let fear rule his actions, the Hulk decided to take this one step at a time and that started with fixing the damage he caused.

* * *

"So let me get this straight" Wendy gathered "the Leader's trying to live out his revenge fantasy on you and the Hulk?"

Mason and his family regrouped back at Mcguket's manor since the Mystery Shack still needed some work done. While most of the damage that was caused during the superhero brawl was fixed by the Hulk and the Avengers, there was still some work to be done to get the town back to normalcy—or as normal as Gravity Falls can be. After nearly a full day of fixing the town, Stark and his team had to depart in order to rejoin the fight against Captain Marvel and the other heroes who had joined her side. Before they left, Spider-Man assured the Hulk that they'd continued their search for the Leader and would contact him when they found anything. Hulk and Dipper were unconvinced, since it seemed that Tony seemed more concerned about fighting his former friends then helping another Hulk. So, for the time being, it appeared that the monster and his family were on their own.

"That's about the long and short of it, yeah" Dipper answered "and I doubt Stark and his friends will be any help to us"

"So we're on our own is what you're saying?" Stan surmised "Good, we're better off without those freaks getting in the way"

"I don't think you guys understand who we're dealing with here" Mason warned "the Leader's one of the most dangerous beings on the planet"

"So was Bill" Ford reasoned "and we defeated him"

"Yeah, barely" his grand-nephew countered "and I'm sorry to tell but there's no magic power or mind tricks to stop the Leader"

"Face it dude, we're not leaving you" Soos stated "We're family, and family sticks together"

"I hate to get all sappy, but Soos is right" Stan added "face it kid, we're with you till the end of the line"

Ford nodded in agreement to that statement. Dipper looked over to Wendy despite already knowing her answer. She gave a brave look as she smiled at him, silently giving him her answer. Rather than argue with them, Dipper only chuckled lightly before speaking.

"I should've known better then to try to talk you out of this" he relented

"Besides, you're a Hulk, you can just smash that little green turd" Stan furthered

"I don't think the Hulk likes being called…well, Hulk" Mason "I think it's because he doesn't want to be compared to Banner"

"So he wants a new name?" Wendy question "like what? Rover? Johnny? Max Power?"

"I got one" Stan chimed in "a few years back when I was in Vegas I ran into this beg guy working for the mob. Come to think of it, he kinda looked like your Hulk"

"What was his name?" Dipper asked

"Joe" the old con-artist replied "Joe Fixit"

Dipper couldn't explain it, but he could almost feel his alter-ego agree with that name.

"I think he likes it" Dipper informed everyone with a smile

Everyone couldn't help but laugh at that. It was a happy moment, one that everyone desperately needed after everything that had happened and for everything that was to come. But for now, the Pines family felt almost whole again. None of them knew what the future held for them. The superhero community now knew of Mason's existence as a Hulk and the Leader had plans for him as well, not to mention whoever and whatever would crawl out of the woodworks to challenge him, but one thing was for certain….

It was going to be a hell of a ride.


End file.
